Age of Ignorance
by ElasticPink
Summary: Sequel to Age of Innocence. Starts a year before SS Arc and through. How will Kira & Gin's relationship fare when only one of them knows its ending? Also follows Hinamori, Hisagi, and Renji. GinxKira semionsided yaoi, other implics as well.
1. Stockholm Syndrome

So we meet again.

This is the sequel to "Age of Innocence." Making a sequel gives me the ability to skip a whole lot of years and start this about a year before the Soul Society arc. The last story was about Kira's fall from innocence and how he got to be in this relationship in the first place. This is about how it comes to an end, a little but more from Gin's point of view, because he's the one who _knows_ that it's ending. It's going to be a lot of in-between what we already know happened.

Also, there's probably going to be more implications of . . . other relationships. Most likely GinxRangiku (sorry) and ByakuyaxRenji (I'm not going in too deep with this one. It's extremely complicated.) And obviously, GinxKira, which is _still_ semi-one-sided.

This chapter in particular was the original chapter 17 of the last story, so i wrote this ages ago.

Enjoy!

* * *

It was moving towards early evening when a tall silver-haired figure approached the Fifth Squad building, Captain's robe billowing behind him in the cool wind. The shinigami were slowly filtering out of the grounds as day wore on, and though at the moment the area was partially crowded, no one even gave him a second glance. He was a shadow to them, a creeping being, slinking along nearby, but it was not keen to waste your energy paying it any mind. With one movement of a hand, the shadow pushed open the door to the Captain's office and, before anyone could tell he had moved, he stepped inside.

As he heard the door scrape closed behind him, the building's occupant shifted his attention to the fact that there was another in the room, having a good guess as to who it was before he turned to look. And when he did, facing his black bespectacled eyes to view the newcomer, he could tell exactly what the intruder wanted. Even as aversive as the upcoming conversation was certain to be, he greeted his guest with a welcoming smile.

"Good evening, Captain Ichimaru," Aizen said formally. "This is highly unexpected. To what do I owe such a visit?"

"I got a proposition," said the silver-haired man quietly. "Are ya available ta talk?"

"I am alone at the current moment, if that's what you mean," Aizen replied. "But it's best to make it quick. She could be back at anytime. What is it you wish to talk about?"

"I was wonderin' somethin'," Gin said carefully. He combed a lock of thick hair behind his ear habitually. "'Bout . . . when we leave."

"Go on," Aizen said, stopping himself before he crossed his arms. So far, this was going as he thought it would.

"I was thinkin' . . ." and Gin combed his hair again, "we could bring another person along. Ya know. Four's always better than three."

Aizen's smile faded slightly at these words. This was, indeed, what he had dreaded. The boy. Gin wanted to bring the boy. But that, of course, was out of the question. "Ah, I thought this might come up at some point," he said, still in light humor. "And the answer is no, I'm afraid."

"Why?"

"He's too loyal to the Soul Society," Aizen said obviously. "If we suddenly tell him what we're doing, he's not going to go along with it. All the work you've done on him to trust you will be for naught."

"Well, I wasn't exactly _plannin'_ on tellin' him," Gin continued. "Jus' takin' him along when the time came."

"Absolutely not," Aizen said evenly. "It's going to complicate everything. There isn't time to deal with it."

"Every man on our side counts," Gin argued.

Aizen sighed. Gin didn't seem to understand that there was simply no real use for the boy. It was very unlike him to argue so thoroughly against what he knew to be greater judgment; something in the plan had gone wrong. "No," Aizen said, his voice rising, "we need him only here. What's his use to us otherwise? He's not strong. He's not a leader. He'll only be a handicap." As was this. Human emotion was only slowing them down, blinding Gin to what he was supposed to be here for.

"I can condition him to be--"

"I'm sure you can," Aizen interrupted, "but that's not the point. The point is that he is not necessary, and he will not give us an advantage. You know this. You just choose not to acknowledge it."

"He _is _use to us, if I can--"

"He is certainly use to _you,_" Aizen cut him off, his humor and calm now completely abandoned. "But not to the cause."

Gin frowned. "Let me talk, will ya?"

"I don't need to hear any more. I should have known this would happen." Aizen stood up and began to pace back and forth slowly while recalling his story, now and then looking up at Gin. "I wanted to put him under Kaname when we decided upon the underlings," he began, "because you could deal with the rebellious one, Abarai. I knew you wanted the blonde . . . but neither Kaname nor myself would openly be able to counter Abarai's insolence. But the boy had taken a liking to you, which gave us an early advantage . . . and so you had your way."

He stopped pacing and leaned against the desk behind him, pausing to push up his square-framed glasses before continuing. "I admit I was reluctant to let you, suspicious of why you were so interested in him. But I was somewhat wrongly reassured of your intentions when we spoke the day before your promotion, as you seemed uncaring enough about his feelings and thought even less about your own deeper ones. As the weeks wore on, I saw you were playing his vulnerability to the book, that you were slowly shaping him to truly trust in you, to bend to your will. But it was HOW you did it that I disapprove of, and it made me realize it was a mistake to let you get close to him. I should have predicted it."

"Predicted _wut_?" Gin interrupted in slight annoyance.

"That you would become attached."

"I ain't attached."

"Don't bother denying it. I see you dote on him."

"It's jus' the opposite," Gin insisted.

"No. It isn't," Aizen sighed again, folding his arms. "I would have thought that someone as well-versed in psychology as yourself could avoid such a thing. But apparently I was mistaken in this aspect as well."

"I ain't attached, Aizen-sama," Gin repeated. "I got him beggin' at my feet."

Aizen was not convinced. "So I suppose you just want a loyal servant, is that it? You can't tell me that if we didn't take him, you wouldn't miss him?"

". . . I s'pose I would," Gin said quietly, for some reason unable to hide that particular fact. "But it ain't nuthin. He's my assistant, tha's all. I see him every day, I'm jus' used to him bein' 'round. I mean . . . ain't ya gonna miss yer own assistant?"

Aizen considered his former subordinate. And now he was trying to shift the blame? "To an extent," he said harshly, "but _I'm_ not sleeping with her."

A long, uninterrupted silence fell among them, the two of them staring at each other as though meeting for the first time. "It's nothing," Gin muttered finally, pulling his gaze away.

"You have a habit of taking things too far," Aizen noted. "Your methods, Gin, were questionable. You ran a high risk that he would never want to look at you again, let alone obey you. Did you honestly not realize the possible consequences of your actions? And did you really think this would have no effect on your feelings for him?"

"I thought ya said--" Gin interrupted again, but Aizen spoke louder over him.

"I think not," Aizen said, annoyed. "It is more likely that you sacrificed caution to follow your more carnal desires. From the start, Gin, you shouldn't have done what you did and you shouldn't have let yourself be seduced as well. I cannot imagine that you came in here this evening actually expecting me to agree to this, unless this whole affair has left you delusional."

Gin didn't answer, disappointed that Aizen's scolding was reasonable. More disappointed in himself that perhaps, Aizen had made a good point about his methods. He was a bit rash and forward, but he knew, somehow, that his Vice-Captain would eventually turn around. But the second part . . . he didn't _feel _attached, so why would his actions have made Aizen come to that kind of a conclusion?

"I suppose I wouldn't have minded so much," Aizen went on. "I wouldn't have cared that you scarred him, that you tortured him, that his emotions were being toyed with, as long as there was a favorable outcome, except for the fact that your emotions were toyed with as well. And that was not helpful."

There was no point in arguing with Aizen, even if Gin didn't believe what he was saying. So he swallowed his clawing questions.

"Fear not," Aizen said, noting Gin's distraught expression. "Lucky for you, your conditioning worked. We can use his own attachment to our advantage."

"How d'ya suggest I do that?"

"I'm sure you'll think of something when the time comes. You'd better."

The door slid open again before either of them could turn around, a short brunette girl entered the room, stopping suddenly when she saw the scene before her. Gin looked at her and smiled.

"Hello, Hinamori-chan," he chided.

"Good evening, Ichimaru Taichou," Hinamori said politely, bowing in order to avoid seeing him. She did not much like the way he looked at her. "Forgive me, Aizen Taichou," she continued, flustered. "I didn't know you had company. Was I intruding?"

"Don't worry so much, Hinamori," Aizen said, giving a warm smile. Color flecked her cheeks the moment her name escaped his lips. "You weren't interrupting anything."

"I's jus' as well, I ought ta be goin'," Gin said, raising a hand and reaching towards where she stood. Hinamori winced, but the hand went past her head and touched the door behind her instead. Gin slid open the door and was swallowed into the shadows of the dusk.

* * *

It's rather annoying to write about a character that doesn't have visible eyes.


	2. Chosen

I apologize for the delay. I ran into a rut in the middle of June and then again at the beginning of July, but got a good start again when I got my AP Psych exam results, and an even better one when I read bleach chapter 229. Good inspiration. :-) Thanks for your patience. This chapter is meant to be similar to the second chapter of the first story.

* * *

Hinamori and Kira sat atop the walkway along the balconies of Squad Five. It was a pleasant autumn morning, breeze blowing softly through the treetops, sending ripe leaves falling delicately to the ground.

"It's almost like he has no time anymore," Hinamori said, her hands holding up her chin. "Always at a meeting or locked in his office, working. The only words I've heard from him in weeks are a swift 'hi,' and that's if I see him at all, _and_ if I say hi to him first." She smiled sheepishly. "It sounds a little silly. I'm being selfish, aren't I?"

"Captains are always busy," Kira noted in response. "You're not being selfish, Hinamori-san. It's just a fact that he doesn't have time. Always running errands, keeping everyone in check and on their toes . . . he probably barely even has time for his own Vice-Captain. I mean . . ."

Kira looked off to the side for a moment. Hitsugaya, now, Hitsugaya _Taichou_, had always been a delicate subject for conversation with Hinamori. It was clear, to him at least, that she had great feelings for him, but he was careful not to tread on them because she seemed so blind to it. And with his next sentence he was in danger of crossing the line.

"I mean, you wouldn't rather be _his_ Vice Captain . . .than Aizen Taichou's . . right?"

She looked at him blankly for a minute before shaking her head, turning beet red. "No, no, I love serving under Aizen Taichou. It's just that . . . I miss the old Hitsugaya-kun. Oh!"

She sat up as a sudden thought hit her.

"Ichimaru Taichou . . . he visited Aizen Taichou last night."

Kira perked up at her words almost cautiously. "Why . . . what was he doing there?"

Hinamori shrugged. "I dunno. I just thought it was interesting that we're friends and our Captains are friends."

"Well . . . not _friends_, exactly," Kira started. "Ichimaru Taichou was Aizen Taichou's Vice-Captain. It's like what he and I are now."

Kira slowed down as he heard his own words. That wasn't what he had meant at all; he had only wanted to explain their relationship was strictly professional. But to him, it had come out meaning quite the opposite. And a new possibility occurred. Was it possible, even logical, that Gin and Aizen really _had_ been as he and Gin were now?

He always knew that there were others in the past who held intimate relationships with Gin. As much as he didn't want to think about it, Gin had a love life before him, and he _knew_ about some of the people for a fact. But could it be that Gin's first was like his own? It made sense; it explained how Gin was always able to keep their relationship private, how he was careful even while being reckless: he had learned. The very notion made him feel ill.

"Kira-kun, you all right?"

"Yes," Kira said quickly, and he immediately felt better. Hinamori's kindly face reminded him exactly who her Captain was. He couldn't imagine gentle Aizen even being able to overpower Gin in a swordfight. Aizen wasn't that sort of person at all; he was by-the-books, very righteous, respectable, and kind. Never fighting unless it was necessary. Behind those honest eyes could not possibly be a vicious stranger. It was all in Kira's horrid imagination. He shut his eyes tightly to get the bad images out of the way, ashamed that such a thought even crossed his mind, and hastily changed the subject. "Did you hear about Abarai-kun?"

"Of course I have," Hinamori said, lowering her voice to an excited whisper. "The rumors are floating all around. No one's supposed to know yet, but it seems like everyone does! We're going to plan something for him, aren't we?"

"Are we?" Kira asked, slightly surprised.

"Yes, I think we should," she replied. "After all, he's worked quite a way up. And it's not just a celebration that he's moved his way up, or that now we get to see him more often." She lowered her voice even more now, so that Kira had to lean in to hear her. "He's grown up as a person, too. It's not just the most powerful that they make Lieutenant. He has to be a trustworthy person who doesn't talk back disrespectfully to his superiors. I don't want to say anything bad about Renji-san, but--"

"He didn't used to be that sort of person," Kira finished. He remembered vividly a time when he and Renji had fought heatedly over that exact subject. It was hard – no, impossible – to think of Renji as an obedient soldier, chanting out a hearty, "Yes, sir," to his captain's command. Kira doubted that he would _ever_ be a person like that. Yet now he seemed to have swallowed his pride enough to act maturely and show some respect. And something like that did, indeed, call for celebration.

"Ooh, speak of the devil," Hinamori whispered. "Renji!"

And Kira looked up to see a tall redhead jogging towards them, waving his arms happily and looking a bit silly. Probably heading over to tell them the good news. He didn't need to waste his breath.

"Congratulations, Renji-kun!" Kira and Hinamori chimed together as he reached them, slightly out of breath.

"So you heard," he said, grinning heartily from ear to ear. "Thanks."

"It's so exciting," Hinamori said, sporting a smile of her own. "You really deserve it, Renji-kun. All your hard work has paid off well."

"Yeah, I can hardly believe it, either," Renji replied, seemingly flustered by his own achievements.

"I'm sorry Rukia-san wasn't here to hear the news," Kira noted. "I'm sure she'd be proud of you."

Renji's smile faded slightly to one of a more serious happiness. "Yeah. I'm sure she would."

Rukia had been assigned to patrol a town in the real world only a few days ago. Less than 24-hours later, rumors began to circulate that Renji had been promoted. It had only been confirmed about a day ago, and Renji hadn't yet the chance to send her a message about it. The timing seemed strangely coincidental, but nobody said anything about it.

"So, when are you going to tell her?" Hinamori said coaxingly, smiling.

"I'm not," Renji answered quickly.

"You're not?!" she repeated in shock. "But . . . aren't you--"

"It'll be even more of a surprise when she comes back," he interrupted, cheeks briefly taking on a rosy hue.

"That sounds lovely," Hinamori chimed happily, suppressing a giggle at Renji's color.

"Her brother won't tell her?" Kira asked.

"You kidding?" Renji scoffed. "He barely says anything to people in Soul Society, let alone send a message to someone in the real world. Too much effort on his part, and it'd be wasting his precious time." And with that comment, Renji's expression changed completely.

"What's wrong?" Kira asked automatically, recognizing his expression as one of forced happiness.

Hinamori looked at him quickly and then at Renji, who immediately stopped smiling at Kira's words.

"Renji, aren't you excited about this?" Hinamori said encouragingly. "Being a Lieutenant is something that you've wanted to be for a while, not to mention that you're second to Kuchiki Taichou. Wasn't it your goal to surpass him? Now, you're only one step away!"

"Yes, I know," Renji answered. "And of course I'm excited, Hinamori. It's just that . . . I'm a little bit _confused._"

"What's so confusing?" Kira asked obviously. "You heard from Yamamoto-san himself that you were chosen to be promoted to Second Seat of the Sixth Squad. They're not going to withdraw it now."

"I'm not confused about _where_ I'm going, Kira," Renji said in slight annoyance, "I'm not an idiot." He lowered his voice so that only the other two could hear him. "No, it's about _why_ I'm going. I just don't understand how I got here. Lieutenants are chosen by the Captain, aren't they? Why would Kuchiki choose me? He _hates_ me."

"He doesn't hate you," Hinamori said reproachfully.

"Yes, he does," Renji argued. "Don't deny it, Hinamori. He can't stand the sight of me. So why did he do it?"

"Captains don't necessarily have to like their men," Kira noted. "He could have seen you as a good asset. You're an amazing fighter and have quite a spirit."

"How can he not like the people in his squad?" Renji muttered, becoming even more confused. "I mean, does he actually like everyone but he wants respect, so he just _acts_ like an asshole--?"

"Renji!" Hinamori said scornfully. "Don't say such things."

Renji shrugged off the rebuke and continued. "It just doesn't make sense. I should be the one person he would never even consider for the job. So . . . why am I suddenly his Lieutenant?"

Kira considered Renji's reaction combined with what he knew about Byakuya and the Seiretei political processes. "Well," he began, "if what you believe is true, Abarai-kun, it's possible that he didn't pick you directly. I mean, maybe Kuchiki Taichou has gone on without a Lieutenant for too long and you were chosen based on rank."

"That's right," Hinamori added. "It was the same with Hisagi-san, wasn't it? I don't think he was directly chosen by Tousen Taichou, but he worked his way up to the top. That makes sense, doesn't it?"

Renji nodded. "I suppose you're right."

"Or it could be that Renji-san is just being paranoid," Hinamori noted.

"Also possible," Kira responded.

"Either way," Renji cut in before they could continue to speak about him as though he weren't there, "thanks for your input. I feel a little bit better, I suppose. Who knows, maybe he's really not so cold-hearted."

Hinamori nodded encouragingly, but Renji still looked genuinely unconvinced.

"Anyway," he began again, exhaling loudly, "I was actually hoping to get you, Kira, to, er, help me pack for when I have to move. You know, like I helped you all those years ago."

"Sure," Kira shrugged.

"I have to be going anyway," Hinamori said, sliding off the railing onto her nimble feet. "Kira-kun, we'll talk later about the you-know-what." She gave him a wink and walked away towards her building.

As soon as she was out of earshot, Kira turned quickly to face Renji.

"What is it that you can't say in front of Hinamori?" he asked, already exasperated by the thought of what they would be talking about. There were only so many secrets that they shared, and he was pretty sure he knew which one Renji was about to bring up among all this talk about Captains. Because Renji didn't want help packing anything; he had never helped Kira pack anything at all, and the official promotion ceremony wasn't for at least three weeks. Rather, he just wanted an excuse for the two of them to have a private conversation. He wasn't especially good at making up stories, but whether Hinamori really believed it or not, she took it as a hint for her to make her leave.

"There's a . . . hole in your theory about why I was picked." Renji spoke softly, even though there was no one around to hear them.

"What's wrong with it?"

"Well . . . it suggests I'm the highest-ranking officer in Squad Eleven aside from the Captain and Lieutenant. But I'm not – you know I'm not. There are three people ahead of me."

"I thought that since Squad Eleven are so proud of themselves," Kira answered, bringing up his old prejudice against the Squad, "the other three declined the offer."

"Yes, that's true for Madarame-Senpai and the Fifth seat," Renji admitted. "Neither of them want to leave Zaraki Taichou's Squad. But our Fourth seat, Kira . . . you don't know how badly he wants to go up in ranks. He'd grab for anything at all, Sixth Squad Lieutenant would be perfect for him. But for some reason, I'm here instead. Two seats behind him and now I'm two seats ahead."

Kira watched his friend's face fill with alarm as he said these words. He wondered why. Being in this new seat wouldn't put him in danger.

"Why is your face red?" Kira asked suddenly, noticing the color slowly rising on his friend's cheeks. "Are you . . . _blushing_?" Renji looked up at Kira and turned even redder at his accusations. "You are! Why are you blushing?"

"I don't _mean_ to be," Renji mumbled and shut his eyes tightly as though trying to get a bad image out of his head. He covered his eyes with both hands and lowered his voice to a harsh whisper. "You've completely messed up my idea of what it means to be chosen as Vice-Captain."

"What?" Kira asked loudly, taken aback. "What does that even _mean?_ And . . . didn't we decide you weren't chosen -- wait," he paused, finally understanding why they were talking privately. He rolled his eyes. "Oh, lord, Renji, you don't honestly think Kuchiki Taichou picked you because he has a _crush_ on you, do you?"

"No, not really, I guess," Renji mumbled. "But . . . why else--?"

"Are you so one-track minded?" Kira asked in slight shock. "Captains aren't like that, they think about Soul Society before their own trivial wants. That's a horrible thing to say, and a horrible thing to think."

"Yours was like that."

Kira's face paled. "That's not true. And we're not talking about that, anyway, we're talking about your new Captain."

He was tired of seeing the strained looks on Renji's face every time he thought about the relationship between Kira and his Captain, tired of hearing Renji speak about it as though it made him physically sick, tired of him mentioning it randomly. For the past few months, he hadn't allowed Renji to get him alone for those same reasons. After twenty-something years, was it too much to ask that he just let go?

"Fine," Renji said reluctantly. "But you can't deny that they're similar, our Captains."

"Hinamori's right," Kira said, ignoring Renji's comment. "You _are_ being paranoid. But I think the real problem is that you've been thinking about myself and my Captain too much. The truth, that both of us know, is that Kuchiki Taichou does not like you, in any way, shape or form."

Renji looked slightly angry at Kira's response, but fought against it momentarily. "Then why am I his Lieutenant?"

"You're a good fighter. You're a great fighter. You must know that. Clearly someone else noticed it, too." He paused as Renji considered the words, looking as though he were searching for a way to dispute them. This conversation was becoming roundabout. "Abarai-kun, you're being ridiculous. Why don't you just _ask_ him why, if you don't believe me?"

"Ask him?" Renji repeated.

"Yes, ask him," Kira echoed. "It's a simple task. You're not afraid of him, are you?"

"No, of course not," Renji said quickly. He paused, gripping his hands together while he thought about the proposal. "Okay," he sighed, "Here's the deal. I'll ask my Captain about why I was chosen as his Lieutenant . . . if you ask yours."

Kira hesitated, annoyed by this outcome. "No. Why should I?" he snapped defensively.

"Aren't you in the least bit curious?"

"Of course not, why should it matter?"

"Don't you want to know the answer?" Renji persisted.

"I know the answer," Kira chimed back.

"How? Did he tell you?"

Kira said nothing, but the look on his face gave the answer Renji was expecting.

"Ask him," Renji insisted.

"Leave me alone." Kira turned around and began to walk away, but Renji was right behind him.

"If you know the answer, what are you so afraid of?"

"We're not talking about this. It's none of your business."

"I didn't ask you to tell me his answer."

"For the last time," Kira said firmly, "We are not talking about this. You deal with your Captain and I'll deal with mine. Let. It. Go."

And before Renji could get another word in, Kira pushed swiftly past him and ran off towards Squad Three without looking back.

* * *


	3. Funny

Story time. A kid I baby-sat for was playing with the Squad Three charm on my cell phone. As he got to the picture of Kira, he picks it up, and asks, in a cute, two-year-old innocent voice, "This is your mommy?" I could have laughed. It was pretty funny. "No honey," I wanted to say, "This is a man." But instead of confusing his gender schema, instead I said, "Yes," and let us both move on.

Sorry I haven't updated in a while. Just started college. It's . . . long. That's all. I'll try to update more often than I have been.

* * *

He reached the door to his building about five minutes later and without looking at it, he grabbed it and pushed it open with more force than was necessary. He heard it _thump_ against the wall and it slid slightly back into a closed position before settling down and leaving only half of the doorway unblocked. He sighed and pushed it open again, stepping up into the stuffy room. It needed cleaning, he thought, looking down at the dusty floor, possibly crawling with microscopic creatures. And busywork was just what he needed to get out his frustration.

He made a list of things to do in his head. _Dishes. Sweep the floor. Filing. Paperwork._ And if _that_ didn't occupy enough time, he thought, he could always alphabatize the bookshelf.

"I only hope Taichou doesn't interrupt me," he muttered, slipping off his shoes by the door and going to the corner to retrieve the broom. He didn't want to think about his Captain at the moment, afraid that if he did, his stomach would churn painfully, reminding him of the conversation beforehand with Renji. If it could be _called_ a conversation. Kira personally felt it wasn't civil enough to be given the name. Now he needed to physically occupy himself with something else so he could think clearly and rationally about how to solve this. He hated being in fights with Renji, because each and every time, Renji seemed to be the one on the "good" side.

He held the broom in his right hand and turned around, setting the position of his left, when he looked up at last and saw something rather unusual that made him stop and feel a rush of blood to his head. The room already had an occupant when he had stepped inside. Gin was leaning against the wall at the back of the room, behind the couch, with a straight expression on his face. In his hands was a paperback book labeled _Philophobia_ but he wasn't doing a convincing job of reading it. His head wasn't even tilted towards its pages; instead, he seemed to be watching Kira as though he were bored.

"Hello," Kira said cautiously, wondering if Gin heard the little comment he made before.

"Hi," Gin echoed almost halfheartedly. It was very odd to find him here in the middle of the day. In fact, it was odd to run into him at all – it was usually he who did the running. He liked to just show up unexpectedly at random times. But here he was, passively passing the time, in a place where any other Captain would usually be. It was almost too _normal._

"I was just . . ." Kira began, pointing to the broom. "I was just tidying up."

"Go ahead," Gin replied, again sounding more like a reflex than an actual response. There was something droll to his tone, something unhappy. Kira had taken his blank expression as a sign of boredom, but as he continued to look at his Captain's face, he saw lines of sadness. That was another odd thing to add to the situation. Kira couldn't imagine a single thing that would make his Captain _upset_. He could think of a long list of things that would make him angry. But sorrow – that meant he cared enough about something to be sad.

_What's the matter?_ He wanted to ask, but knew he wouldn't get a straight answer. And besides, what could he do about it anyway, whatever it was? He took a tighter grip on the broom and began to clean as though he were alone.

He swept the floors quickly and got around to dishes soon afterwards. There weren't that many, but he spent a long time scrubbing all of them several times over. It was late afternoon by the time he had started on the pile of paperwork on the desk, and decided maybe he would file everything tomorrow, when he heard a stir behind him. He turned quickly to watch Gin move from his standing position against the wall and walk leisurely over to take a seat on the couch. It was this reminder that he was _not _alone that got him thinking. It had been hours since he set to work, and not once was there an interruption. He remembered glancing apprehensively at his Captain while he was doing the first task, but Gin was still pretending to read the book, really watching Kira absentmindedly, almost longingly. But he was so quiet, so inactive, that Kira had forgotten his presence. Just _watching_ was not Gin's style; what was going on?

"Is something the matter?" Kira asked, finally.

"What makes ya think that?" Gin answered back, in a tone that almost suggested annoyance. Kira hesitated before moving forward with more inquiries, but it was unnerving for him to act so uninterested.

"You just . . . don't seem yourself," he replied.

"Not myself, huh?" Gin asked. "Then who am I?"

Kira could tell it was a stupid joke even though Gin didn't smile. Dumb jokes: that was more like him. He felt a little better. Maybe it had just been a long day. But he didn't want to leave it just at that; now that he had gotten his Captain's attention, now that he had worked himself up to ask that question . . .

"I wanted to ask you something," he began carefully, annoyed with himself for letting Renji get to him that much.

"Lotsa questions in ya today," Gin said, keeping the book held up to his face and turning a page, though Kira knew he was _still_ not actually reading it. "Go ahead."

"Why is it that you . . . chose me as your Vice-Captain?"

Gin seemed genuinely interested by the question and lowered the book, turning his head to Kira expectantly. "What kind of an answer are ya lookin' for?"

Kira was confused. "What do you mean?"

"Ya asked a complicated question," Gin continued, "what kinda answer you lookin' ta get?"

"Er," Kira began, still unsure what his Captain meant. "A serious answer." He didn't want any roundabout answers, any of his Captain's teasing. It seemed like a safe reply.

Gin stood up, leaving the book behind on the couch and walked a few paces towards Kira. "Okee," he said. "Why I chose ya." He paused while he combed a hand lightly through Kira's hair. Kira suddenly wondered if he really wanted an answer at all. "I had a dream," he began in a low voice, "o' one day takin' over the world. I had the power, an' the will, as well as the ambition, but I needed a subordinate to do my biddin'. Killin' all those who oppose me. I didn' know who it should be, an' then I met ya. A damned pretty thin', I didn' want to leave ya when I got ahead, an' I see now it wasn't a mistake. Now it's you an' me, and together, we gonna take this worl' down."

Kira blinked at the elaborate explanation, unsure if he should be flattered or horrified. He hadn't expected an answer like _that_ – but he scowled as he saw the subtle smile in his Captain's face, and realized he'd been had.

"That's not funny," he said through gritted teeth, holding back the urge to hit him.

"Yes it is," Gin countered, giving a true smile briefly, taking a few steps backwards before Kira pushed him out of the way. "Ya take this job too lit'rally, Izuru," he continued. "Ya don't _have_ to be so gloomy just cos yer in Squad Three."

"I asked for a _serious_ answer," Kira continued, ignoring his comment. Even in a seemingly foul mood, he should have expected Gin to give him a hard time with an answer.

"That was a pretty serious answer doncha think?" Gin replied.

"But it wasn't truthful," Kira said, hopefully.

"No," Gin admitted.

"That's what I want," Kira said. "A truthful answer."

"Oh." Gin sat on the arm of the couch and folded his arms across his chest. "Shoulda said that before."

"Do . . . you have one?" Kira asked, hesitantly.

"Yeah," Gin replied. "Course I do. I'm jus' not sure why yer askin it."

"Does it matter?" Kira mumbled. "I just wanted to know."

Gin sighed. "Fer many reasons. There were lotsa factors. I saw ya had potential, firstly. Yer a good fighter, excellent wit' the kidou. An' as I recall, I'd promised to train ya a lil while before the promotion. An', yer a loyal person. Passionate. Lotsa factors."

Kira gave a light smile. It was a very good answer. "That's the truth?"

"That's the truth," Gin echoed, shrugging. "Plus ya were one-a the only people in Squad Five who ack-chally didn' hate me."

Kira wanted to argue but felt that it wasn't an appropriate time to speak about his old squad. "Thank you," he said instead.

"Yer welcome." Gin stood up again and took a few more steps towards Kira, his arms closing around him, and he drew him to his chest in a tight embrace, one hand on his head, the other around his waist delicately. Kira felt Gin's cheek press against the top of his head and just rest there for a few moments. It was comfortable; it was _very_ comfortable, but it was strangely romantic.

They stood serenely together until Gin lifted his head and backed away slowly. Kira wasn't sure if that was supposed to lead anywhere, so he didn't move again until his Captain gathered the book up off the couch and shoved it in front of his face once more. He was about to go back to the paperwork when out of the corner of his eye, he saw the book being put down again. He turned and watched.

"There was another reason, too," Gin said, hesitantly. It looked like it was taking a great deal of courage to speak up what was on his mind, and Kira wondered if he was going to give the answer that Renji expected him to. He braced himself. "I'm tryin' to overthrow the King, an' I needed a Vice-Cap'n who's incredibly trustin', who would do what I asked without askin' too many questions so that I could eas'ly do the task."

He raised an eyebrow, waiting for his subordinate's reaction. Kira paused for a moment, contemplating the answer and looking at his Captain's face for any signs of his intentions. Finally, he spoke.

"I get it already," he replied. "Very funny. I'll lighten up a little."

He turned to start some of the filing, noisily flipping through the many cluttered papers on the desk and in its drawers. Behind him, Gin sighed again.

"Yeah," he mumbled. "Funny." And started to actually read the book.


	4. Attachment

Sorry I haven't been around for a while. College work has finally caught up with me, and my sanity has not.

* * *

The entire day, he spent watching the boy move back and forth hurridly across the room, sweeping, cleaning, filing papers, writing new ones, wondering to himself if this was making everything worse or if it just did nothing. Because it certainly wasn't making anything better. He could hardly believe that he'd actually _told_ Izuru the actual reason he chose him for a Lieutenant, summed up the whole plot that Aizen had been planning for 100 years in about a minute. Well, it was at least the reason that he chose one of the four of them as Lieutenant, the four young, impressionable students, all with different colored hair. As for why he chose Izuru specifically out of the four of them . . . well, Aizen had explained the reason quite well. He had a thing for blonds.

And Izuru had dismissed the whole thing as a joke, and not even a funny one at that. He was genuinely annoyed by his Captain's happy-go-lucky demeanor, his tendency to make jokes at everything, even when it wasn't appropriate – especially when it wasn't appropriate. He couldn't imagine what would have happened had Izuru actually believed him; he _could_ imagine the look of shock and horror on his face, pressing for more details, asking in his nervous, high-pitched voice _why, why, why_? What he _couldn't_ imagine was his own counter-reaction: would he actually answer the questions in full and honestly, or would he deflect it all and say that it was a joke after all?

Another thing he could imagine was a conversation with Aizen, had Izuru believed him. Oh, wouldn't it be a pleasant one, too. He could almost physically feel the anger bubbling inside his former Captain, see the veins ready to burst in his forehead.

"You _told him?!"_ Aizen would mutter with dangerously suppressed anger.

"It slipped," Gin would say, shrugging his shoulders innocently. "But now we _gotta_ take him along."

"No," Aizen would reply, and draw his sword. "Now we 'gotta' kill him."

Gin suppressed a shudder. Oh, yes. That's how it would most likely end. Someone's death. It was _always_ going to end with _someone's_ death, at least one someone, but he would really rather it not be Izuru's. Aizen was right, he had become attached . . . in a way. Didn't like the idea of leaving, the idea of leaving _him_ behind. He had known that the end was coming for how many years, now, and yet he spent it more immersed in Seiretei and the people here than he knew he should have.

It was like death, in a way. The ever-looming end we all know is coming. Spend twenty, fifty, one hundred years, knowing that it's just around the corner, and hope that it's going to happen later than sooner so that you can enjoy whatever life has to give you. And when it's approaching you don't want to prepare, still hanging on to that hope. But he was looking forward to the death . . . just didn't want it to come so soon.

So, fine. Aizen was right. He rubbed his forehead, trying to look like he was getting a headache from reading. Izuru wasn't an idiot, but he was too shy to say anything, so Gin continued his façade. Fine. Fine. Aizen was right, he was right, he was always so fricking observant . . . but him being right didn't change anything. It didn't help anything. He hadn't said the best way to rectify this unforeseen problem . . .he hadn't said _any_ way to rectify this.

"You'd _better_ figure this out, Gin," was all he had said. It was almost like he himself, the great Sosuke Aizen, had no idea how to deal with something like this. Lima Syndrome, he believed it was called. He had seen it ages ago when doing the research on Stockholm Syndrome, the exact opposite. He couldn't recall there being a name for an instance when both things occurred. Perhaps that was why Aizen couldn't figure it out. It was quite rare, indeed.

So how to best go about undoing this? Distancing himself from the boy was the first thing that came to mind. Little by little, spend less and less time with him, be less intimate, be less of a lover, more of just a Captain. But hadn't he proved it himself, that it would have just the opposite effect he was looking for? "Absence makes the heart grow fonder." You make something the norm, you take it away, the psyche seeks homeostasis and needs to get back to normal. His own strategies were now playing against him. Urgh. It was mind-bending.

And Izuru wasn't an idiot. He was actually quite clever, clever enough to be in the honors class, clever enough to see through him if he was distant. He was clever enough now to see that Gin was not actually reading one of his (Izuru's) dumb romance novels. Clever enough to notice that Gin wasn't feeling quite as cheerful as he normally did. He would notice if something off was going on, he would feel the difference if Gin was trying to be distant. Clever, yes. Intelligent, yes. Observant, perhaps not. Confident, certainly not. _If I simply left him,_ Gin thought. _He would only blame himself._ But to do so would be tasteless. Not to mention, it didn't solve anything, didn't solve the attachment for either of them. It was like some stupid plot in a soap opera . . or one of these books, Gin thought, skimming through the chapters of _Philophobia_.

Yes, to simply leave would leave for something to be desired. There would be no climax in that, no poetry at all. But he couldn't think of anything else and neither, so it seemed, could Aizen. He wondered, then, if Aizen had wanted Gin to simply leave and never come back. It would catch Izuru off-guard, and there would be no suspicion. No time for him to be stopped. It would leave the boy heartbroken, moody, and angry -- well, more than usual. And though he wasn't sure on what Aizen intended, he was positive that Aizen would not care in what state he left this place, or any of its inhabitants.

Had he really dug himself into such a deep hole that there was no hope of climbing out unscathed?

Unscathed . . . that was the issue he didn't want to address, not even to himself and especially not to Aizen. Gin put a hand to his head with an actual headache and buried his face deeper into the book to hide his bothered expression. He knew how Izuru would feel if he left now, as they were, without putting any emotional distance between them. But . . . how would he himself fare? Yes, he would be able to get through it, he was sure nothing was too bad to bare. But what exactly was he going to feel?

Pain? Suffering? Longing? These were words he did not readily associate with himself, nor did anyone else who knew him. He hadn't truly felt any of those things in a long time; life was just a joke, and so there was nothing to hurt about, nothing to be sad about. But if he left now, would there be something to be sad about? A feeling of loss, that something is missing? They described it well in these trashy books, which was probably why Izuru liked them. He could relate to them. And that was probably why Gin despised them so much. He didn't want to relate to them.

_No_ Gin corrected himself. _I just _don't_ relate to them._

But some of Aizen's words from yesterday's conversation came swimming to the surface of his mind at these thoughts.

"_That was not helpful."_

Gin only realized then what strange language he had used. "Not helpful." Why not use "useless" or "pathetic"? Those words were more his style, yet he had stuck to "not helpful." Did it imply something? Something he was expecting to happen _because_ of the attachment to Izuru?

A fleeting vision passed before his eyes of himself, and Aizen, and Tousen, engaged in a final battle with Seiretei. Except that it was only the other two who were doing the fighting; Gin was just standing there, staring straight ahead, a look of devistation on his face. Being "not helpful."

Gin shut the book and stood up suddenly. That was never going to happen – that couldn't be what Aizen really believed. That he would be so pained by being apart from his Lieutenant that he would not be able to function? Laughable. It was just paranoia. On both of their parts.

Izuru noticed his Captain's movement, glancing briefly at him and then back to the work that he was accomplishing without distraction. Gin looked at him for a moment, then walked quickly out the door, in need of a distraction of his own.


	5. Walk With Me

Her eyes were wide and red as though she had just been crying, though Kira could not figure out why. If anything big was going on, surely he would have heard, or Seiretei would have been chaotic. It had been earlier that day when he had lead a small group to take care of some hollows around the Eastern side, or at least Third Squad had been chaotic.

"What's wrong?" he asked, sounding less concerned than he had meant. Thankfully, Hinamori was too upset already to notice.

"It's . . . it's . . ." she mumbled something incomprehensive and choked on the last word.

"Come again?" Kira repeated, feeling guilty that he was not panicked.

Hinamori swallowed hard before continuing, her eyes pleading now. "It's . . Rukia-chan," she managed to say before choking again. "She . . . she was arrested. Yesterday."

"Oh," Kira said. He was unrelieved, though, as it had never brought him worry. "Yes, I did hear. Yes, it's terrible," he added quickly, seeing Hinamori's expression, and screwed up his face to show he meant it.

She frowned at him and poked him hard in the arm.

"Ow," he mumbled.

"You're not worried," she said obviously. "What's wrong with you?"

"Well . . . erm," he struggled, preferring not to look her in the eyes. "It was the decree on of the Soul Society, there isn't anything we can do about it," he said hastily, seeing the despairing look on her face. "But she's Kuchiki Taichou's sister. He'll plead her case, won't he?"

Hinamori paused, considering this for a moment. She opened her mouth to continue, closed it, and then started again, lowering her voice to a harsh whisper. "But . . . you know they sent Renji to bring her back."

Kira grew tense at her words and clenched his fist. "I know," he muttered in a hushed voice. "It was a cruel thing to do."

"He's been kind of . . . quiet since then," she noted. "Just visiting her a lot, missing his meetings, and being all around miserable."

"It's a strict sentence," Kira noted.

"Well, yes," Hinamori replied quickly, "but I think it's something more than that. But I don't know what."

Kira shrugged, his way of denying the fact that he didn't know what she was talking about. In truth, he had neither spoken to Renji nor seen him since he had returned from fetching Rukia and for several weeks before that as well.

"Could you find out?" she asked hastily.

"Me?" Kira turned sharply and automatically went into defense mode. "I'm no good as these sort of things, I – I just end up making everything worse."

"I've tried already. He won't open up to me."

"I don't think he'd open up to me, either," Kira muttered, but Hinamori didn't hear. He sighed. There was no arguing with her in such a panicked state. "Okay, I'll go talk to him. But I can't promise any results."

"Thank you," she sighed and smiled. "You've been pretty out of it, too," she added. "Do you want to talk?"

"Not especially," Kira said, but when he saw the look on Hinamori's face, he added hastily, "because I have nothing to talk about."

Hinamori bit her lip and gave him a skeptical look. "You know," she began softly, "sometimes I think there are a lot of things that people are hiding from me. I can't imagine why--" she put a lot of emphasis on the _why_ "—because there isn't anything that would make me hate my friends."

Kira shifted uncomfortably. There were many secrets he was hiding from Hinamori, and he would give up his sword before he told her. He believed her, that she wouldn't hate him, that she probably wouldn't think much differently after a little while, but it was the initial reaction that he didn't want to see. This made him wonder if Renji had a similar idea.

"Alright, I'll go find Renji," Kira said, bid her farewell, and went towards Sixth Squad.

Hinamori's strangely harsh voice echoed in his head. It wasn't as though he weren't expecting this at some point, for her to finally tell him her suspicions of everything that was going on. He didn't want to lie to her, tell her that he had no secrets; after all, everyone has secrets, he was sure even Hinamori did. But confirming her fears was too much. He ran his fingers through his hair, hoping that the world wasn't going to crash down around them.

"Ya lied to her."

Kira stopped and turned towards a dark alley nearby where stood a tall shinigami with reflective silver hair. "You were watching me?" he asked pointlessly.

"A li'l bit," Gin shrugged. "Enough to know ya lied to yer friend."

Kira wasn't sure if this was reprimand or what. "Well, what else could I have done? I can't tell her that I think Kuchiki Taichou doesn't care about his sister's fate. I can't tell her that there's nothing we can do about the execution. The law's the law . . . she knows that."

"'Course she does," Gin smiled widely. "She ain't so fragile, ya know."

"I know . . ."

"I was jus' over there," Gin said carefully. "Rokubantai Taichou don't seem to be worried, and Rukia-chan don't seem to be worried, either."

"Really?" Kira said in genuine surprise. "But – she's facing death, isn't she? That's a scary thought, even if she appears to be brave--"

"Shinigamis shouldn't fear death, Izuru," Gin stated obviously. "It's what we deal wit' all the time. It's our jobs."

Kira bit his lip. "I never throught of it like that," he mumbled, barely comprehensible.

"I know yer scared o' dyin' and all," Gin replied, reaching out of the shadows to hold Kira's hand gently. "Don' worry so much. After all, ya got me fer a Captain."

"Th-thank you," Kira spluttered, caught off-guard by this intimate gesture. He then felt a slight tug on his arm and stumbled forward into the darkness of the alley and into the embrace of his Captain.

"C'mere," Gin said, and pulled his Lieutenant forward again, stroking his hair softly.

"What are--" Kira started weakly as lips pressed against his lightly. "Taichou, we're in public!" He jerked away and back up towards the opposite wall. Gin continued to smile contentedly unabashed, but Kira needed a few moments to calm down and drive the color from his face.

"Well," he said matter-of-factly once he had gotten his composure together. "I . . . should go. I . . . have things to do."

"Things to do?" echoed his Captain playfully.

"Yes . . .work . . .stuff," Kira attempted.

"Do ya have ta go now?"

"I---" Kira considered not going to look for Renji. Even if he found him, it would probably lead to nothing. He doubted highly if Renji would ever admit anything, never speak about his feelings. "I suppose not . . . why?" he added suspiciously. Gin had been strangely passive for a while now, and it was only a matter of time before he went back to his old self.

"Well, I was wonderin' if ya wanted to go fer a walk."

"A – a walk?" Kira was expecting any other answer. This was a strangely . . .novel idea. "Like a walk-walk? You mean a literal walk?"

"Yes, Izuru," Gin said simply. "I ain't sure what a figurative walk is."

"Where did . . . you want to walk?"

"Nowheres in particular." Gin smiled, but it was an unusual smile. Kira couldn't put his finger on why.

"You mean . . . you and me, just . . . walking together?"

"Yep."

"For the fun of it?"

Gin shrugged. "Yep."

Kira was confused. "Why?"

"Do ya really need a reason?"

Kira didn't answer. It wouldn't help to, he wasn't going to get anything out of it.

"So are ya comin' then?"

Kira hesitated. If he knew anything at all about his Captain it was that there _had_ to be an ulterior motive in this walk, but he couldn't for the life of him figure out what it might be. To get him alone? What would be the point of that, long gone were the days where he was constantly being forced to spent time with Gin. To keep him from talking to Renji? Probably not; even if Gin did know he was planning to visit Renji, Gin would gain nothing from stopping him. Then why? Just to spend time together?

"Yeah, sure," Kira answered, preoccupied, and waited for his Captain to lead the way. He was caught by surprise again, however when Gin slowed down and fell in step beside him.

With his good eye, Kira gave a sidelong glance to his Captain, who was looking right back at him. Quickly, Kira turned his gaze skyward. This was highly unusual, almost too normal for his Captain to be doing. It was almost maddening. He was tired of these guessing games – he could no longer attempt to read his Captain's mind. Maybe, he thought with reluctance, it was time to ask the opinion of someone else. Someone who knew Gin better than he did. Someone who knew him growing up.

* * *

Er. Sorry I took so long with the update. I struggled quite a bit with this chapter. Next one should be up sooner than later. I think I'm going somewhere.

* * *


	6. Affliction

Dawn had barely come upon the Fifth Squad grounds, yet its Captain stood aside basking in the pale pink sunrays. It was something that was light and dark at the same time, and such paradoxes were one of the only things of interest he had here. That and watching the other shinigami trying to tread water while being surrounded by sharks.

"One of the last sunrises of the Soul Society," Aizen said softly to the man standing a careful distance away from him. "Can't say I'll miss it."

The other man said nothing, an action that was out of character.

"Everything's moving along now, Gin," he continued. "This will be our last talk for a while. If you have anything to say, you'd better say it now."

"Ever notice how the orange glow makes it look like Seiretei's on fire?"

"Only now that you mentioned it," Aizen replied. "That wasn't what I was expecting you to say."

"All the arrangements are made. There's nuthin' more to say."

"Good. Then I expect you're ready to kiss your Lieutenant goodbye?"

There was slight hesitation. "I will be."

"Good." Aizen looked again over the horizon and smiled as the sun turned from glowing light to a dome above the trees. He smiled as it rose into a full circle. "It's beginning," he whispered.

Gin smiled. "What's beginning?"

"The death of tomorrow."

* * *

The sign on the building looked like an ornate plus sign within the uniform diamond of the Soul Society. He had never before been here, and he didn't expect that his first visit would be on his own. Raising a fist to knock on the door, he let it hover a moment before bringing it down. Half a dozen times on the way over, he had contemplated turning around and going back home, but since he was here already . . .

After a moment's pause, the door opened and Kira was greeted by a sleep-eyed white-haired boy, fully dressed in his crisp Captain's uniform. He seemed annoyed at having a guest.

"Kira?" Hitsugaya asked. "What are you doing here so early?"

"I . . ." he hesitated, then quickly went with it before his fear took over. "I was hoping, actually, to speak with your Vice-Captain."

Hitsugaya gave a bored look of surprise before peering over his shoulder as though to check if she were lurking behind him.

"I doubt she's awake," he answered, then considered a door behind him that Kira guessed led to her bedroom. "But maybe if I get her up, she'll get some work done."

He stepped to turn around, but not before a figure about twice his size came down on top of him, resting its chin on his shoulder and wrapping its arms around his middle as best it could. The figure had long strawberry hair, and was smiling cheerfully.

"Good moooooooorning!" Matusmoto called, and stepped backwards as Histugaya pushed her off him.

"She's all yours," he said bluntly and went through an open doorway, shutting it quickly behind him.

Matsumoto yawned and stretched as though she didn't know anyone else was in the room. She was barely dressed in her uniform, as one of the sleeves hung off her shoulder and her sash was only single-knotted. She tied it again, was disastisfied, and retied it before she noticed Kira standing nearby.

"Hm?" She made a noise of slight surprise. "Kira? When did you get here?"

"I was here the whole time," he began, but found it pointless to say, as she was not paying attention. "I needed to talk to you."

"Oh?" Her demeanor became more serious, which was a relief.

"Yes." He continued to stand in the doorway awkwardly.

"Um . . . privately?" she asked obviously.

"Preferably."

"Come in, stupid," she muttered, and turned. "Follow me. I'll get us something to drink."

He did as he was told, keeping his mouth shut, going over a conversation in his head carefully. He had to talk about what he needed to talk about without revealing too much. It would be tricky, but it had to be done.

"I almost didn't recognize you at the door, you know," Matsumoto said thoughtfully as they stepped into a room that was supposed to be a livingroom, but the desk by the window took away its relaxing atmosphere. "Did you get shorter?"

"Wha . . . no!" Kira snapped, his concentration breaking. "I'm taller than you!"

"Really?" she sounded genuinely surprised and Kira couldn't help but feel like this was going to be a very unproductive conversation. "You look so much shorter . . . maybe it's because you slouch."

Kira briefly corrected his posture then found it took too much effort and relaxed again. He hated being shorter than his other male friends. "It's probably just that Renji-san and Gin are freakishly tall," Kira denied. Matusmoto stopped where she stood and turned, giving him a strange look. Kira couldn't imagine why, and turned his eyes away from her, choosing to study the wood floors.

"You can sit," she said finally in slight exasperation, and he seated himself on a small cushioned chair across from the couch. "Honestly, you're so uptight. I'll get you something to loosen up."

"Isn't it a little bit early to be drinking?" Kira asked, peering around her arm to see what exactly she was getting from the cabinets.

"Relax, kid, it's tea," Matsumoto replied, continuing her loud racketing around, clanking together different pots and kettles. She seemed to enjoy the noise. "Now what did you want to talk about? Or . . . rather, who did you want to talk about?"

Kira suddenly felt that he didn't want to reply. But it would probably be worse if she tried to guess, so he simply said, "Isn't it obvious?"

She nodded absentmindedly, and rummaged more through the cabinets. "Well, that calls for something a bit stronger than tea." At last she pulled a large bottle of amber liquid from the cabinet and tucked it under her arm along with two small cups and headed over to the couch. She plopped herself down comfortably and poured two it out slowly, giving no hesitation before grabbing her cup. "So. What's he been doing? Abuse, neglect, just being generally mysterious?" She seemed distracted and took a long sip.

"Those are normal, are they?" Kira muttered, and Matsumoto nodded gravely.

"It's not so surprising," she continued. "A tiger doesn't change its stripes. He's always preferred to do things on his own. Why should anything change? Why should the great Gin Ichimaru work well with others?"

"It's like he just refuses to let anyone in," Kira said suddenly. "No one knows what he's thinking, no one knows how he's feeling . . . he's like a statue sometimes."

"Tell me about it. I remember this one time, we were supposed to meet up at the Ninth Squad, and I just stood there for almost an hour before he showed up. He said he'd been 'takin' care of important stuff' and had to go back to doing them. I asked if I could go with him and he said sure, and then we went to the library and I just _sat_ there. He wouldn't tell me what he was doing, just looking through shelves. I swear, he was just wasting time."

"That's the same thing he did to me!" Kira cried. "I practically had no choice but to follow him. I didn't see anything especially important, either. We just walked around Fifth Squad for a while."

"Sometimes he does it for attention, like he needs it. He'll say he's going off 'somewhere' and then he'll just hang around the library for a few hours. Just to seem mysterious."

Kira nodded promptly. "That explains a lot. Once he said that and I went back to the room, and there he was. I asked what happened to the mysterious task, and he said it was unnecessary. But that was just bullshit. Right?"

Matsumoto laughed and sat up. "Yeah. And that smile of his. Reassuring and fuckin' scary, at the same time."

"Absolutely!" Kira was excited to have someone who understood what he was going through. It felt nice to be able to get all of this off his chest. "I'm . . . I'm very glad that I didn't have to explain any of this to you, Matsumoto-san," he began, remembering what exactly he was here for. "That brings me to the problem at hand."

Matsumoto took another lazy sip of the stuff. "Another one, eh? What is it?"

"Well lately . . . it seems like he hadn't been quite so . . . negligent or . . . unnecessarily mysterious." Kira lifted the cup to his lips and found, to his relief, that it was just very strong tea. Or at least his was.

Matusmoto leaned forward and raised her eyebrows concernedly. "What do you mean?"

"It seems like . . . he's trying to be nicer, to be more . . ." He hesitated to use the word _loving_. "Parental. Less tough on me, not as . . . forcible. "

"And you're complaining??" Matsumoto all but laughed. "I would kill for my Captain to let up on me . . ." She glanced toward the doorway, almost expecting Hitsugaya to walk in and instruct her to work right then and there.

"I've been thinking about it . . . and it has me worried. It's not like him at all, not the Ichimaru Taichou that I know . . . it's like he has some sort of ulterior motive. But I can't for the life of me figure out what it could be."

"Hmm." Matsumoto downed the rest of her drink and sat back thoughtfully. "That is odd. It reminds me . . . of graduation."

"Graduation?"

"From Shinigami school," she continued. "Gin graduated before I did, to be expected from such a smart-ass," she added, "And we both knew it, too, so . . . he spent as much time with me as possible, in between classes. It was . . . a little bit out of character. Under normal circumstances, he would probably make any excuse to _not_ have lunch with me. It brings even more evidence to my theory that he makes it up half the time."

"So . . . what, you think he's graduating from Third Squad? You think he's been promoted?"

"No, no, I'm just reflecting." She smiled. "Imagine if he _was_ promoted. Gin, giving the sentences and writing laws . . . pandemonium. It would be terrible. Seiretei would go down in flames."

"That's not funny," Kira said seriously, but couldn't help but smile at her giggling. "So, if it doesn't mean he's leaving . . . what do you think it means?"

She shrugged. "Well, that's just my opinion. Do _you _think he's leaving?"

"No!" Kira said at once. "He would tell me if he was, wouldn't he?" He drifted off, trying to remember if Gin ever _had_ slipped any hint that he was going somewhere, permanently, but nothing came to mind. He shook his head again.

"Then I haven't the slightest idea," Matsumoto went on. "Maybe he's actually getting soft, though--"

"I doubt it," the both of them said in unison. Kira grinned abashedly and Matsumoto needed a few minutes to calm down before she could go on.

"In any case, you should enjoy it while you can."

"Somehow it feels . . . ominous."

"It could be. Which is why you should enjoy it for now. Questioning will just lead to more questions. There are never any answers with Gin, only more and more questions."

"Yeah . . .thanks. I wonder if this happens with any other Captains."

"Well . . ." Matsumoto looked as though she were considering saying something that she would rather not. "You two are a different case."

Almost on cue, Kira's heart began to pound. Not another one. "What . . .what do you mean?"

"Oh, don't be so naïve," she scoffed. "It's a well-known fact."

_Well-known fact?_ No, it couldn't be . . ."What--"

"Come now. You two are rarely seen apart."

"So what?" Kira said, sharper than he meant.

"So what?" Matsumoto repeated, indifferent to his tone. "You must've heard the rumors about how Gin is _obviously_ overbearing. I mean, why else would you follow him around like a butler? You deserve a break."

"Oh. That. Yeah, I guess." So no one gave Gin the benefit of the doubt. Well, it was better than them believing what was actually true. "Well, it's not that he's overbearing . . . sometimes it seems like he doesn't have anyone else. Everyone always gives him dirty looks and such. Even other captains seem to avoid him."

"Well you still don't need to stay with him every second. You're too loyal for your own good. Know when to say no."

"That's beside the point," Kira started, getting flustered. "I follow the rules, that is all. If my Captain asks me to do something, I gladly do it."

Matsumoto looked as though she were about to argue at the clearly snarky comment, but instead took a deep breath. "Yeah, whatever."

"Erm." Kira calmed down as well, glad that this hadn't ended in a fight, but decided to leave before it did. There was only so much more they could talk about Gin before he got annoyed. "Thank you," he said, standing up. "For understanding. No one else seems to."

"We've a common infliction," Matsumoto said lazily and stood up to let him out. "Please do yourself a favor, and don't let him control you."

"Yes, I'll remember that," Kira said quickly, and said goodbye.


	7. RedHanded

Finals are done. Let's celebrate.

Yaoi warning for this chapter. I kinda forgot about that thing. Screw it.

* * *

The world was burning below him, Seiretei consumed by flames of deepest orange and red licking its walls and turning them black. Ash was piling up in the streets, trees were instantly incinerated, shinigami were running in terror. He could hear the screams and the desperate cries for help and some cursing among them. Cursing at him. Cursing at all of them.

In the distance, he tried to spot a lone building and a lone figure. Finally, among the chaos, he found the sign of the Third Squad, burning bright and sending smoke signals into the gray sky. And through its walls, he could hear someone screaming inside.

_Bang._

Gin drifted back to consciousness as the door slammed shut and opened one eye slowly to see what the commotion was about. A blurry black shape came into focus, and he realized he was looking at a pair of legs. But they were so stiff they looked like they belonged to a piece of furniture. He sat up on the couch slowly.

"Oh God," Izuru muttered with a strange look of horror on his face. "I woke you up . . . I'm so sorry, I didn't know you were there--"

Gin held up a hand. How ridiculous the boy was sometimes. Getting worried over nothing.

"Nah, fo-get it," he replied, rubbing his head. "Bad dream anyhow."

"Really?" Izuru asked meekly. "Erm . . . do you want to talk about it."

Gin made a face then shrugged. Why not humor him. "Sure," he answered, and patted the seat beside him. Izuru hesitated, as he always did, and Gin felt an urge to roll his eyes, but he finally sat down next to his Captain. "I dreamed . . . I set Soul Society on fire."

He reached over and combed his fingers through his Lieutenant's soft blonde hair, pulling apart a few knots along the way. Through his skin, he could feel Izuru stiffen at his touch, although he did nothing but tremble.

"On fire?" Izuru repeated quietly.

"Indeed," Gin smiled and glanced over at his subordinate. It was funny to see his mind struggling to figure out whether he was joking or not; it didn't pay to make up lies anymore. He wouldn't know the difference either way. "Somethin' wrong?"

Izuru shook his head, avoiding his gaze. Gin sat up straighter and drew his hand away. If he didn't know any better, he would have guessed that Izuru was hiding something, too. He wasn't especially good at hiding anything, with that guilty look plastered to his face if he even stepped a toe out of line. Too obedient for his own good: and Gin had made him that way.

Gin sighed. Honestly, with that expression, it was as if he _wanted_ to be caught. "Tuh. There's always sumthin' wrong, Izuru."

"This . . ." he stopped, and turned to face his Captain, boldly. Gin was amused. "It's not the first time you've had this dream, is it?"

The smile faded from Gin's face instantly. This was certainly an interesting turn of events, but he could not find it in himself to enjoy it. Certainly, Izuru was right; this was a recurring dream, one that had started from the first day he had planned with Aizen to leave this place in ruins and popped up again now and then. But now that the time for the actual destruction was approaching, the dream became more frequent and more vivid. That didn't disturb him; it was natural. But how did Izuru know about it? And the fact that he had waited until an opportune moment to let it slip . . .

Izuru flinched at Gin's change in facial expression.

"Izuru," Gin said firmly, and took hold of the boy's shoulders. "What makes ya say that?"

"Erm. Sometimes you mutter in your sleep."

Gin raised an eyebrow. _Sleep-talking?_ Years of preparations and scheming could be found out by something as trivial as that? No one had ever told him before that he had said anything in his sleep; perhaps it was a new thing that came with the anticipation of the coming destruction. But then, if he had said that much, what else had he said? He had dreamt of other things as well over the past few months. What else did Izuru hear?

He glanced briefly over the confused younger face before him, brow furrowed, the wrinkles complementing the rest of his smooth complexion. And Gin wondered if he knew what would happen in less than a fortnight, and if he were playing his part not by deception, but by his own free will?

_Nah_, he thought, shrugging it off. Izuru was too easy to read; he would have let off something if that were true. He was confident in that much. And as much as he loved his Captain, he was much too loyal to Seiretei. Even Aizen had noticed that.

"I'm sorry . . . I'm sorry . . ." Izuru began, fearing the worst again.

"I ain't mad," Gin said through gritted teeth. He stood up, looking to take a walk to clear his head. He had to talk to Aizen about this; there was a problem neither one of them could foresee. But all thoughts of this left him as something even more unexpected occurred.

He felt the warmth of arms around him and found Izuru clinging to his robe and leaning against his chest. He raised a hand to stroke the blonde hair then felt a hand in his own.

"You never ever tell me," Izuru started, voice shaking, "whenever you have problems. Yet you always comfort me from mine. Well, it's my turn." With his free hand, Izuru took a hold of Gin's and looked up to where he figured there were eyes. "Taichou. Whatever it is. I'm here for you."

And boldly, probably without thinking about it too hard, he took a step forward and kissed his Captain. It became more forceful, more prolonged, and his hands began to claw at his Captain's sleeves, and running down to clutch his hands. Izuru parted Gin's lips with his own and slipped a tongue in between. It was rare for him to be so into it, so forcible, which only amused and enticed Gin even more. Like he could actually let the boy take total control.

Gin clasped Izuru's hands and turned him around, pinning him against the wall behind them. His fingers reached for his Lieutenant's shirt, trying to remove it as quickly as possible. It was not enough just to taste his lips; the sweet bare skin beckoned to him, and he wanted it all to himself, wanted to touch it, wanted to feel the heat from Izuru's body and hear his heart beat.

At last, the shirt was on the floor, and Gin did not hesitate to rest his lips on the Lieutenant's smooth neck, kissing fiercely, hungrily, and using his hands only to bring him closer. Izuru had yet to lose himself, but it was only a matter of time. Then they could move to the bedroom or just finish right here.

_Bang_.

Had it just been another dream? No, it couldn't be, not when he could still feel Izuru's skin and smell his sweet scent. And there was something hanging in the air. Something out of place. Something wrong.

Immediately, he let go of his Lieutenant and stood up straight.

Then came the voice that spoke from the doorway. What a way to return to reality.

"Captain Ichimaru! Lieutenant Kira! Important message! Special wartime---" and then it cut off.

Gin turned his head to look at exactly what he thought he might see. There, standing in the open doorway was a black-haired Shinigami in a standard uniform. The shinigami's face turned bright red and he turned around as quickly as he could. Gin was almost confident he had let go just in time, but in their position, there was no way that even the most clueless wouldn't have known immediately what the two of them had just been doing.

Gin bit his lip. Only a few days to go and this was the time fate decided they get caught? There was too much at stake right now for him to get into any fights with the interior. This simply would not do.

"Yes?" he asked casually. He could see Izuru beside him, all but paralyzed with fear, grabbing his Captain's arm for comfort and advice. Gin wrenched his hand back and put a finger to his lips.

"I---" the Shinigami began in a shaking voice. "I have a message. From the interior."

"What's the message?" Gin continued, drawing out his words. He had to make this last long enough to think of something to do.

"There has been a breach of the Soul Society," he began, less shaky than before. It was probably a rehearsed speech. "We have an intruder alert at the Gate. So all Captains and Vice-Captains are to carry around their weapons at all times. They are instructed to alert the interior if they see an intruder and to kill them on sight."

"Kill 'em on sight, got cha," Gin repeated, and eyed his sword sitting by the doorway. It would be a simple task; no one would miss him, he led a miserable life anyway. It had been done before a hundred times over. Blamed on a hollow attack. Simple as that.

"Alright, cool," the Shinigami replied and made to leave. Except it wasn't cool at all. Oh no. He wasn't going anywhere.

"Hang on," Gin said, and the messenger froze. "You ain't dismissed yet." He took a step forward, and the shinigami, as though he sensed what was about to happen, began to shake. Well, they always said that shinigami could feel death approaching.

"C-Captain Ichimaru," he began, unable to move. It was just as well. He would have easily been caught had he tried to run. "I – I – I didn't see anything, alright?"

"Indeed you didn't," Gin replied, and took the sword from the threshold.

"You don't need to do this . . . please . . ." His voice shook violently, reminding him strongly of Izuru's when he was afraid. The sort of panicky tone that only made him more interested.

"Taichou . . ."

Gin shut his eyes tight at the sound of that voice. At first, he thought it must be in his head, but remembered soon that his subordinate was right beside him. He hadn't intended to have to kill someone in front of Izuru; a hollow, fine; someone evil, perhaps; but this Shinigami was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. The shedding of innocent blood was something that he was sure would turn Izuru against him. "Turn away, Izuru," he muttered. "Ya shouldn't see this."

"Ichimaru Taichou, don't!" Izuru started. Gin heard Izuru's steps behind him, but they both knew that he couldn't stop him, even if he tried.

Gin took a few steps forward himself and raised his sword above the shaking messenger's head. He heard sobs both in front of him and behind him, but one of them would be done with soon enough.

He could see Izuru crying about this, crying and covered in blood, but no hand of his Captain's could comfort him, because it had caused the pain. But he'd get over it. He always did.

"Gin," Izuru said firmly, but his Captain could hear the struggle to keep his voice straight. "Don't do it."

And he felt a small twinge of some indistinguishable emotion.

"God damn it," Gin mumbled, and struck a blow to the head with the hilt of his sword. The shinigami slumped over and lay motionless.

Gin put the sword at his hip and sighed, kicking the body lightly. At once, he turned to his Lieutenant.

"Put 'im on the couch," he ordered, and immediately, Izuru walked over to do so. "When 'e wakes up, I was never here. He delivered the message an' passed out. Get it?"

"Got it," the boy echoed. He dragged the messenger inside. "Thank you."

"Tuh. I don' know whatcha mean," Gin lied. "I wasn't gonna kill 'im. Too much of a mess."

"Yeah," Izuru replied and seemed slightly disappointed. "Where are you going, anyway?"

"Me?" Gin replied. "I'm off ta check out these 'intruders'."


	8. Intruderz of Interest

Ahaha. I think my timing may have been off for the last chapter, but it fit better with the dialogue if they were commanded to carry around weapons at all times. And also I think the messengers are blond, but that may just be a stupid hat.

Whatever.

Back to this story, it is now around the time when things start getting easier for me, because the entire plot is written out in the manga. I'll try not to stick to exact dialogue. Or at least in the translation that I have (manga-rain). Sorry if it matches yours to a T.

* * *

"No! No, Ichimaru Taichou, please – don't!"

The man sat bolt upright at these words, waking at once from his unconscious delusions, sweating and shaking. He was surprised to find himself lying down (well, now_ sitting_ down) on a long couch in one of the squad's main buildings. From the decorating and layout, it looked like a Captain's quarters.

Suddenly reminded of what had brought him to this state, the man quickly looked over at a chair behind him where sat a blond young man with hair that fell into his left eye and nearly obscured his vision. The Vice-Captain of the third squad. He was reading a book quietly as if he didn't know there was someone sitting right in front of him. But he _did _know.

"I see you're finally awake," he said sourly.

The man nodded, then remembered Kira was not looking at him, and said, "Yes, sir. Um . . . thank you, by the way," he added, averting his gaze.

Kira looked up at these words briefly and went back to the book. "There's nothing to thank. Was I supposed to leave you unconscious outside where you would be trampled?"

"That isn't what I meant," the messenger went on sheepishly. "I meant . . . you stopped him from . . . from . . ." he swallowed before saying the word, "_killing_ me. I owe you my life."

"What are you talking about?" Kira asked, finally closing the book and giving the ailing man his full attention.

"Um . . . you and Ichimaru Taichou . . . I . . ." he looked around the room once more. "Where is Ichimaru Taichou?"

Kira looked at him quizzically. "What is your name?" he asked.

"It's . . . it's Hizumi, sir," he answered, distracted.

"Well, Hizumi-san, My Captain has not been here all day," Kira said promptly, raising an eyebrow. The messenger looked utterly confused. "Perhaps," the Vice-Captain continued, standing up, "you should see Fourth Squad about head trauma."

"All day?" Hizumi repeated. "But I could have sworn . . ." he drifted off, and Kira folded his arms, looking down upon him, waiting for him to get up. "But then . . .how did I . . .?"

"I haven't the slightest," Kira cut in. "You just collapsed. Again, I suggest Squad Four."

"Yeah . . ." Hizumi drifted off again, feeling his forehead with disdain.

Kira sighed. It was easy enough to get this idiot to believe that what he saw as just a delusion; he just hoped that he wouldn't relate his 'strange dream' to the Fourth Squad. He hadn't been in the room for too long, but already Kira felt the strain of his company; he wished he would just leave already.

As if an answer from heaven arrived, the door opened unannounced for the second time that day. But this time, the man standing in the door was welcome – especially since he wasn't interrupting anything taboo. He was tall and muscular, preferring to wear his uniform with the sleeves torn off, probably to show off his well-toned biceps and a striped bracelet tattoo that went around his upper arm. There was one to match that went around his throat and a strange unexplained 69 on his left cheek.

"Kira!" he said loudly, feeling no need to announce himself. "What are you doing just sitting around? Haven't you heard about the intruders? Come on, we're supposed to--"

He cut off upon seeing a strange man on the couch, shoes and all. The messenger stared right back, still in dream land, and there was an incredibly awkward silence between them.

"Who is that?" Hisagi said finally.

"Messenger," Kira replied. "He, erm, fainted while giving the message. And was just on his way to Fourth Squad," he hinted strongly. Hizumi broke out of his stupor and jumped to his feet.

"Yes, yes, um . . ." he bowed quickly to both Lieutenants. "Thank you again. Hope I don't collapse before I get there."

Squeezing past Hisagi so that they didn't even brush up against one another, the messenger rushed out the door. Immediately, Hisagi reverted back to what he had been saying before.

"Anyhow, Kira. The intruders," Hisagi went on. Kira nodded. "Well, we're not sure exactly where they are, so we're supposed to be patrolling in teams of ten or so. You and me, we're leading one party."

"Oh," Kira said softly. He knew that the coming intruders meant that action had to be taken, and being a Vice-Captain, he guessed he was one of those who would have to take action. But this matter with his Captain was still unsettled, and he had been hoping to wait here until he got back. They had to discuss their own intrusion and how to take more precaution in the future. But also, Gin still hadn't told him what the problem was, what had been bothering him so much. At the moment, however, it didn't look like they would get to a private conversation anytime soon.

"I've got four men from my squad," Hisagi continued, talking over Kira's thoughts. "Meet me outside with four of yours, okay?"

"My men?" Kira repeated. Over the years, he had to lead a few expeditions, missions, and assignments that involved commanding a fair few of the other members of squad three, which he still had a little bit of trouble calling his subordinates. Mostly because of their attitudes. Although they followed orders without so much as a groan, they seemed hesitant. Kira wondered if he was that bad of a leader or if a lot of them were still bitter about the incident all those years ago, when one of their ranks had died at his hands.

"Yes. Ten minutes?"

"Of course," Kira continued. "I'll be right there."

It took little convincing to gather a party. Not surprisingly, a lot of the shinigami were intrigued by these so-called intruders. They must be super-humans in the least, since it took a lot of strength to make it this far, and they must have a great knowledge of the Soul Society, in order to know the conditions in which one could get here. In fact, Kira found himself having to actually pick and choose when he only had two spots left and he walked into the middle of a poker tournament. Eventually, he got his team together and went to meet Hisagi, who was surrounded by 4 men just as intimidating as he was. Like the Third Squad, they looked a little bit too excited.

"Come on," Hisagi said hurrdily as he saw Kira approach, "I've been sensing them for a while. They're closer than they were before, too."

"They?" Kira repeated, but knew better than to question Hisagi, even if, academically at least, he was more apt. Kira watched as he closed his eyes briefly, took a deep breath, then began to run, quickly, in the opposite direction.

"Let's go," Kira called quickly to the other eight, and raced to follow his fast-paced friend. All scholastics aside, Hisagi was definitely faster than he was; he remembered the first day, when he had trouble keeping up on the way to the meeting. But his own speed had improved since them, and he had with him eight other shinigami. Surely one of them would be able to keep track of Hisagi if he couldn't.

He nearly ran into his friend as they approached the wall that surrounded and protected Sereitei. Hisagi had stopped and was staring straight at the west wall with an expression of utter confusion across his mangled face. Kira knew at once why he wasn't moving; he could feel it as well. The ryoka were just beyond this wall – not in the city, yet. Not quite a big threat, yet. In fact, it wasn't their job to do anything about them, yet.

"Hn," Hisagi said. "They haven't cleared the wall yet. That's Jidanbou's territory. He _should_ take care of them."

"Yeah," Kira agreed. Something was weird. It wasn't odd that they were informed of a break-in, even before the ryoka reached Seiretei. Only normal that they would need to be warned in advance. But there seemed to be a _fuss_ about these particular ryoka – whoever they might be. Why had they been commanded to carry around their weapons at all times if the intruders weren't even inside yet? It was almost as though central was anticipating they would beat Jidanbou.

Kira gave a sidelong glance to Hisagi, who seemed to be thinking the same thing, but shook his head. "Naw," he said skeptically. "Jidanbou won't fail us. We'll -- we'll come back later, if we don't find anything. Come on," he added, addressing the whole party, "let's check out the rest of the wall. There may be more of them."

* * *

The Captain watched the ten-person party from behind as they approached the wall and stopped abruptly, waiting a moment before moving on. He could see the spikey black hair of Tousen's Lieutenant and the too-familiar soft blonde hair of his own. They must be the leaders of the party. Well, that took care of what to do about Izuru – he'd be distracted for a little while. Two non-Captains as leaders also explained how they had missed something vital. Good thing he was here to step in.

He could hear it, across the street, through the wall. Jidanbou, the guardian of this wall, was losing. The Shinigami chosen for his brute strength and fearsome appearance was losing. Failing at his job. Well, then, what use was he? Honestly.

Gin waited patiently, watching the wall, waiting for what he knew would happen any minute. Once Jidanbou was defeated, the vagrants would make their way into the courtyard here. Where they would run into Gin Ichimaru. And probably never run again. Or walk.

Suddenly, Gin became distracted by a familiar presence somewhere in the shadows behind him. High spiritual power, and he caught a glimpse of red hair. None other than Renji Abarai, the Lieutenant of the Sixth Squad, and friend of both Rukia-chan and his own Izuru. Now _that_ was an interesting twist; Abarai out and about in the same place as his friends, yet he was not traveling with them. He was hiding. From what, or from whom, Gin did not care, as long as he was not spying.

Gin dared a look. No. He was looking in the same place Gin was. Staring vacantly at the wall, waiting for something to happen.

A sudden rumbling shook the ground where he stood, and caught his attention once again. Looking up towards the moving wall, Gin was suddenly surprised by who he saw holding up the wall. A man in shinigami uniform several stories tall, with feet the size of ponds and an expectedly unintelligent face. None other than Jidanbou himself. What in the _world_ was he doing?

Gin stepped forward, out of the shadows, strolling slowly up towards where the monster of a man stood, holding up the wall upon his two shoulders. Honestly, what good was a gate guard who let in the intruders? He licked his lips, planning something clever to say, but from the sudden look of horror on his face, Jidanbou had spotted him already.

"What's going on? What's wrong?" came a voice from over the wall.

"It's . . . " Jidanbou stuttered, and Gin was sure he would point if his hands weren't busy, "its . . . Captain Ichimaru . . . of the third squad!"

Gin smiled wider. He never got tired of hearing his name spoken in that tone of voice. That fearful tone of voice. "Tuh," he chided, as he drew closer, "this won't do. What use is a guardian who can't guard?"

"I--" Jidanbou began, but Gin didn't give him time to answer. With a quick grab of his sword and a swift jump, blood spurted from the shoulder where Jidanbou's arm used to be. Used to be, because his arm was now lying in the dirt on the ground beside him. Gin smiled, watching as the wall came crashing down.

"No!"

To his great surprise, the wall only began to fall when Jidanbou leaned on a knee and, mounting the wall upon his back, began to push it up again. Cheers and encouragement erupted from behind him, and Gin glanced around the enormous mass to see who these ryoka were.

It was a strange group, indeed. There were five that did not belong. Four humans: one female with long auburn hair; a tall dark boy with a mess of hair and a strangely festive shirt; a boy with pale skin in an outfit resembling that of a Quincy; and an orange-haired boy, who had the nerve to wear a sort of shinigami costume. There was also a black cat.

"Ichi . . . maru," Jidanbou gasped, and Gin turned his attention back to the massive man.

"I admit, I'm impressed," Gin said carefully. "I expected the wall ta crush ya, actually. That ya can still hold it with one arm . . . tha's pretty good. 'Elite' indeed."

Jidanbou couldn't muster a reaction. Large beads of sweat were forming on his forehead, and blood was running down the left side of his body.

"Butcha still fail," Gin continued. "A guard's job is ta guard. Don' see ya doin that right now. N' fact, I see quite the opposite."

"I lost," Jidanbou answered slowly. Gin could see his skin changing color slowly, paling to a yellow-green. "It's only natural for the guardian to open the gate when . . . he is defeated."

"Tuh," Gin scoffed. "What's this nonsense? Ya got it all wrong. See, the point of a guardian is, well, _guardin'_ the door. Ain't make no sense if he goes an' opens it."

"What – what do you--" Jidanbou stuttered, but couldn't finish his sentence under the strain.

"What it means, then," Gin began, "is that if he fails . . . he outta be executed."

Gin grasped his sword and, grinning, jumped towards Jidanbou, but heard the clash of metal instead. The boy with the shinigami uniform with bright orange hair had taken out a large sword that resembled a butcher knife and blocked the attack. Gin raised an eyebrow and deflected him. What an interesting twist. He hadn't expected any of the ryoka, especially _human_ looking ryoka, to have a weapon like this. Who exactly _was_ this child?

"Hey asshole!" the orange-hair started, pointing his sword out at Gin like it was his finger. "What the hell do you think you're _doing?_"

Gin could have laughed. It was all he could do to keep from chuckling in the least. It was like something out of one of Izuru's fantasy novels. Nevermind who he actually was – this kid seemed to _think_ he was something special. This was more fun that he anticipated.

"We won fair and square!" the boy continued. "Who the hell do you think you are, coming in and attacking in our fight? C'mon, fox-face." He bent forward, holding his sword in stance. "If you want to fight someone so badly, _I'll_ be your opponent. And I . . " he paused, almost for dramatic effect, "I will tear you apart!"

He couldn't help himself anymore, and laughed aloud. _Fox-face,_ huh? "My, what an interesting child!" Gin said out loud, smiling. "What, aren'tcha scared?"

"What?" the boy said, insulted. "Hell no!!"

Gin smiled. Clearly, the boy did not know anything about Sereitei. He wondered how he had gotten into this world with such ignorance – or, more accurately, who had helped him get here.

"Oh my god, you idiot!!" came a cry from the rest of the ryoka crowd. Gin saw the black cat speaking from the corner of his eye. Somehow that cat looked familiar. "Stop fooling around, let's get the hell out of here, Ichigo!"

_Ichigo._ Gin looked again at the carrot-top, and at his sword, a massive sword, nearly as big as the boy's own body. Was this the legendary Ichigo? He had heard stories about this kid from both Rukia and Abarai (although they hadn't spoken to him directly), but he dismissed him as an impossible person. A human who was also a shinigami, but who had powers to rival _true_ shinigami? The idea was preposterous. Yet the boy seemed to be standing before him.

"Ah, so ya _do_ exist," Gin said merrily. "The infamous Ichigo."

"What the hell are you ranting about?" Ichigo muttered.

"Well, if ya _are_ Ichigo, I definitely can't let ya in. Sorry," Gin reached for his sword and pulled it out. He didn't really want to kill this kid, anyway. He was much too interesting.

"Ha," Ichigo chided. "Are you going to stop me with that knife you got there?"

The kid had spunk to match Abarai's, and that was saying something. Gin remembered that Abarai was still in the shadows behind him, but he knew better than to interfere with a Captain's battle. He wondered vaguely if Abarai was just waiting for a fight or if he was waiting for this ryoka.

"Don' be foolish," Gin began. "This ain't a knife. It's my sword." And before the insolent boy could get another word in, he commanded, "Shoot him, Shinsou."

At once, the blade grew, and quickly. Startled, Ichigo pushed his sword in front of him, blocking the blow, but even after bracing himself, he couldn't hold the force. Instantly, Ichigo, along with Jidanbou, the black cat, and the rest of the ryoka party were pushed backwards and into the outer Soul Society.

The wall began to fall without any support.

"No!" Ichigo ran forward, as though he could do anything to stop it.

Gin smiled. He hoped he would see them again. They were so very interesting.

"Byes!" he chimed lovingly, waving at them as the wall fell down. And with a thump, he was alone again.

* * *

Ugh, this chapter felt so formulaic. Next chapter will be more fun. I forgot how romantic this story is supposed to be.


	9. The Conspiracy Begins

I've been anxiously anticipating a possible fight between Kira and Gin in the recent chapters, or at least some sort of introduction to one. It seemed to be leading up to it: Hisagi and Komamura were set to fight Tousen, Shinji was getting ready to fight Aizen; it only made sense that Kira and Matsumoto at least _discuss_ fighting Gin. I'd like very much to understand Kira's state of mind and his feelings towards his Captain at the moment: whether he seems hesitant or excited to fight, whether he wants to bring Gin back or kill him or go along with him, whether he still has any positive feelings whatsoever for his old Captain . . . kinda want to figure that out. But so far, all we've seen of Kira's reaction is that he's kinda (really) pissed. But about what? about WHAT?

Alas, in the last few chapters, it seems as though Kubo won't grant me my wish anytime soon, or perhaps, he won't even grant it at all. Gaah. I must know!

* * *

Renji watched for a few minutes as Gin Ichimaru stepped out of the shadow before he could and took on the intruders from beyond the wall. Well, he hadn't quite intended to fight all of them anyway, he was only on his way to escort Rukia to the white tower, her new prison cell, where she would remain the rest of her days.

And he was glad that _that_ part of his day was now over and done with. Time to relax and wait for further instruction. He missed the times when he was still looking forward to the visits to Rukia. When she used to tease him constantly for his promotion, and that now he was the Lieutenant of her brother, it meant they were practically related. But now she was so indifferent to the fact that she was about to be killed, so numb. It was disturbing, it was _highly_ disturbing. He almost wished the guards would stop asking him to escort them.

"Oh! Careful, Abarai-kun. You almost broke my glasses."

Renji came back to earth just in time to stop from running into Captain Aizen a second time. He turned pink and bowed deeply in apology, combing a stray hair behind his ear.

"Sorry, Aizen Taichou," he said quickly.

"Off visiting Rukia again?" Aizen asked casually, knowingly. His kind smile was welcome. Renji almost felt like it was the old times again.

"Sort of," Renji muttered back. He knew it was rude, but wasn't in the talkative mood, even with his kindly old captain. What he really needed now was a strong cup of something; not that he could get it now. But Aizen seemed to in the mood for a nice conversation.

"Ah. We haven't talked in a while, you know," Aizen noted, and Renji didn't hide his disinterest. Aizen merely smiled wider. "Guess we're both very busy, huh?"

"A bit," Renji said quickly. Maybe this would be the end.

"Yeah," Aizen continued, staring almost beyond Renji. "Some strange things have been going on here, lately, keeping everybody on their toes."

"Yeah, it's weird," Renji agreed.

"Rukia being arrested. And now this business with the ryoka."

"Look, I don't mean to be rude, or anything," Renji said hurridly, "but . . . is there a point to this?"

"A point?" Aizen asked. He pushed his glasses up thoughtfully, looking into space. "Well . . . I had a question for you. You're Rukia's closest friend."

"Yes," Renji replied, turning red.

"Well, do you think her sentence is fair?"

Renji raised an eyebrow. "Fair?" What was Aizen getting at? Even if he thought it was unfair, which he certainly did, what could either of them do about it? Or _was_ there?

"Yes. Her crimes are minor, yet her punishment is capitol." Aizen kept an incredibly blank face through all of this. "What do you think of it?"

"What do I think of it?" Renji repeated incredulously. He hesitated before continuing. "It's bullshit. That's what I think of it."

He expected to be reprimanded, but Aizen merely chuckled. "Indeed. It seems odd that it would be issued, doesn't it? It isn't normally handled this way."

"Sorry," Renji cut in again, "but _why_ are you telling me this?"

"Just saying . . . it sounds like a conspiracy to me. Have a nice day, Abarai-kun." Aizen bid him farewell with a casual wave and went on his way, wherever that was.

Renji watched after him in pure confusion. What did Aizen mean by a conspiracy? Yeah, the sentence seemed unfair, but he always assumed that they were trying to make an example out of her, nothing more. But could it be that they had some sort of ulterior motive? And if so, who was behind it?

Renji thought a moment. Well, there was only one person so suspicious. He hated to think it; not because he liked the shinimgai, But because one of his friends did. A _lot.

* * *

_

"Gin Ichimaru!"

All eyes suddenly feel upon the silver-haired man whose facial expression would have been no different if he had just been awarded a medal.

"Who, me?" Gin said playfully. It was easier to play dumb than attempt to explain himself. Especially when his explanation was "diverting suspicion."

"Yes, you, dumbshit," muttered Zaraki Taichou, just loud enough so that everyone could hear him except their leader. He was a huge man with ridiculously spikey black hair who took pleasure in bullying everyone around. Gin wasn't afraid of him at all, but found his antics quite amusing along with the fact that he was brutally one-track minded.

"You stand here accused," said Yamamoto Taichou, the Captain of the First Squad, the shinigami with the most precedence in all Sereitei. He was harsh, but fair. Not that Gin had any real respect whatsoever for this man, but it was incredible the esteem that some of the others held him to. "Not only did you fight the ryoka by yourself, you also _let them escape._ How do you explain yourself?"

Gin glanced around at the other Captain's faces. In the same situation, Kuchiki and Zaraki would have killed them on the spot. None of them seemed very judgemental on the fact that he had fought them on his own; after all, they all would have done the same thing, including the bed-ridden Ukitake, who was absent again. However, they all seemed to think along the same lines of Yamamoto regarding the ryoka's escape. Letting them live was unforgivable.

"You know perfectly well what you did wrong," chimed in Byakuya, his glowering gaze falling upon Gin's timid smile. "Disgusting that you could not defeat them – rather, that you _did_ not."

"Unforgivable," Zaraki agreed. "You didn't tear them to shreads? You were alone – there's no excuse."

"Despicable," Byakuya muttered. Strange, Gin thought, that they did not get along outside of the classroom. But that made them only more interesting.

Most annoyed was Hitsugaya, who was eyeing Gin suspiciously nonetheless. Well, it was good that the plan was already working before he even tried to put it into effect: the child – yes, _child_, no matter how intelligent and powerful he was – already suspected him of _something_. Gin returned his harsh gaze with a playful smile.

"Er . . .well," Gin said, rubbing the back of his neck, "I guess I can't explain myself."

"_What?!"_ even Yamamoto was shocked by that response. Pleas of ignorance weren't very common here. That only made it easier to believe.

"I wasn't thinkin'. Sorry." He shrugged. The other Captains looked almost speechless at his claim. It took several minutes for Yamamoto Taichou to voice a response.

"Very . . . very well. We will decide on your penalty, then," he said, but his last few words were drowned out by a rumble that erupted, like something from out of the sky. Louder than thunder, and it made the ground shake with heavy tremors.

"What the--" came the reaction of several of the Captains, some struggling to maintain their balance while the others, including Gin, Byakuya, and Yamamoto himself rushed outside to see what the hell was going on.

In the sky, as bright as fireworks at night, appeared a huge blue-white ball of spiritual energy that immediately split into five pieces, and each of them crashed to the ground.

"Ryoka!" hissed Yamamoto Taichou before turning back to his now disorganized audience. "Ichimaru Taichou, you are dismissed of charges for now. Captains, disband. Find these intruders, and get rid of them."

Zaraki went off at once heading towards, Gin guessed, towards the most powerful royka. If he wasn't mistaken, it was the orange-haired boy. Other captains went on their ways, some leisurely, others in a ridiculous rush. Aizen, as planned, took a slow stroll towards his squad, passing Gin as he did.

"Strange, don't you think," Aizen said slowly, "how convenient this alarm bell was for you."

"I dunno whatcha mean," Gin said playfully, careful to be within Hitsugaya's range of hearing.

"If you think you can get away with this," Aizen continued quietly, "you've got another thing coming."

Gin responded with another smile and a quick touch to his sword.

The two of them walked off in opposite directions. Gin, uninterested in the ryoka, decided that he should head back to his own squad and check if his Lieutenant was still entertaining a guest. He had barely taken a step away when he spotted a blonde-haired someone turning the corner. The shinigami stopped at once when he noticed that he had walked straight into a crowd of Captains, and immediately locked eyes with his own, as though pretending he had done this on purpose.

"Oh, hello . . . erm, Ichimaru Taichou," Kira said quickly.

"Hullo, Lieutenant," Gin replied, giving a short wave.

"I came to find you," Kira continued, and Gin wished that it wasn't so incredibly obvious that he was making this up on the spot. "Um . . . mission successful."

"I assume ya took care of our problem," Gin said plainly. Kira nodded quickly, giving a frightening glance to the parade of Captains beside him. He promptly turned red when he noticed, and Gin had noticed this as well, that one or two of them were staring.

"I was just heading -- " Kira started.

"Out for patrol?" Gin finished for him, putting words in his mouth. Kira gave an impromptu nod. "Good thinkin', Lieutenant, was jus' about to go looking around myself. C'mon, Kira, let's find them ryoka. Won't let 'em get away this time," he added hastily, noting that a few of the Captains, including Hitsugaya, were still listening.

"Yes, sir," Kira bowed quickly to the group and followed Gin down the alleyway, away from the crowd.

"Erm, by 'patrol,'" Kira began, once they were out of earshot, "you meant--"

"A talk," Gin said carefully. He ran a hand over Kira's hair, but it was hasty, almost more like he was brushing off dandruff. "Got a feelin' there are some other squads more int'rested in them ryoka. Let 'em try first."

"Try?" Kira repeated. "This isn't the first time Seiretei's had intruders. What makes you think it'll take so much to get rid of them?"

"No reason, jus' bein cautious," Gin said softly. "They're diff'rent. Ain't never seen . . ." He was thinking of the boy with the orange hair, proudly wearing the shinigami uniform and sporting that butcher-knife zanpakuto. But all the signs said he was human – such a strange creature. Well, it didn't matter, anyway, they were no threat. Aizen could crush all of them with the flick of his wrist, if he had wanted to. But that was not what the plan called for. Let the other squads be distracted by these ryoka. There were bigger matters that he – and subsequently, Izuru – was involved with.

"What haven't you seen?" Izuru pressed, but he didn't seem to be especially concerned. This was different from his usual panic when anything was outside the status quo; Gin rather liked the change. It was good to see his Lieutenant finally becoming confident in his abilities, at least a little bit. He wondered, vaguely, if he would ever be able to see him become confident enough to rise and be a Captain, when there were three empty spots. Gin wondered if he would even_ want_ to be a Captain when this was all over. What kind of state he would be in.

"Taichou?" came Izuru's voice again, now that familiar panic starting to seep into his tone. "What is it that you haven't seen before?"

What kind of state would they _both_ be in?

Gin looked again at his Lieutenant. In the next few days, he would be asking him to do things for him that every fiber in his body would tell him to question. And though he told Aizen a thousand times that he was confident that Izuru would _not_ question his orders, he was not actually positive. He would do them in the end – that he was sure of. And they would tear him apart, that was another surety. But the questions. Gin imagined the voice in the near future, beginning for an explanation and didn't know what he would say. _Trust me._ But after all of this, would he?

"These ryoka," Gin said simply. "They's _powerful._"

"Surely not more powerful than Seireitei," Izuru scoffed.

"No," Gin replied. "But they's different. Listen." He stopped walking and turned. "Izuru. They's quite different. It may take a while ta get rid of 'em. An' if they cause problems . . ." He sighed, giving a smile.

"Problems?" Izuru said, eyebrows knitting together. "What kind of problems could they possibly--"

"I dunno." Gin ran a hand through his own hair, pretending to be nervous. "But listen ta me. I saw 'em myself. I don' think they'll leave wit' this place entirely intact."

"Intact?!" Izuru said this louder than Gin would have liked. He winced.

"Hush," Gin hissed, pressing a finger to Kira's lips. "Listen. I need ta ask somethin' of ya."

Izuru nodded slowly and Gin took his hand gently, locking their fingers together. A soft color appeared on his cheeks, but he remained attentive.

"I need ya ta follow my orders, no matter what they might be," he said simply.

Izuru raised an eyebrow, and asked the obvious question. "What sort of--" he began, but Gin lost patience and kissed him, cutting him off. Nearly immediately, Kira lost his train of thought.

"Yes, sir," Izuru said softly, blushing hard. Gin gave an inaudible laugh that he still had that effect. Still good, then. And he was covered, for a little while. Hopefully, Izuru wouldn't ask any questions. Even as his Lieutenant was becoming more independent and able to work on his own, Gin hoped he wouldn't think outside the box until this was all over.

Until he was gone, and Izuru had no choice but to think for himself.


	10. Surprise Captains!

"Kira! There you are!"

Kira wouldn't have turned around, under normal circumstances. He certainly wasn't in the mood, what with the entirety of Seiretei going haywire, his own squad in a panic and his Captain conveniently gone off somewhere. Not to mention that the Vice Captains were being called to gather what seemed like every few minutes. It would have been easy to pretend he didn't hear her over the chaos. But her tone suggested that she would be hurt more if he didn't reply at all than if he replied moodily. Which he did.

He swerved around, his expression downcast, hair looming dangerously over his left eye. "What is it, Hinamori?" he asked nearly harshly to the still meek girl behind him. He expected her to cringe, at least a little bit taken aback, but she stayed firm. On a second glance, he could see her wringing a Lieutenant's badge in her hands . . . yet her own was still on her shoulder.

"It's Renji," she said obviously, worry wrinkling her eyebrows. She gave a half-glance to the side of her. "He's . . . I was talking to him . . . and he suddenly just . . . ran off."

"What were you talking about?" he asked curiously.

"Just about Rukia, and the intruders," she said innocently. "Do you think . . . maybe he . . . he went to fight them?"

_Why would that not surprise me?_ Kira thought, but held his chin in thought as though he didn't think it likely. "I hope not," he said with an exhasperated sigh. "He'll get in horrible trouble if he goes after them on his own."

"I know," Hinamori said gently, looking down at the badge in her hands and running a thumb over the stitching in the flower. "That's why I'm asking you to look for him. Before a Captain finds him."

"Why me?" Kira asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Because you can talk him out of it," Hinamori pressed. "I'm sure you can."

_If only that were true._ Kira wasn't even sure Hinamori believed her own words; more like she was willing the both of them to believe them, or at least act as though they were true. Well, if it was worth that much to her. "All right," he said at last. "I'll gather together a search party. You keep an eye out, too."

"Of course," Hinamori nodded, giving a polite bow, holding out Renji's armband. Kira hesitated before taking it, like he had with his own, and he once again found it forced into his hands. He bowed back, hoping that Renji would still be in shape to wear this badge when, and if, they found him.

* * *

This meeting was really, really boring. Like, immensely boring. Only made more dull by the fact that they could be out there, right now, fighting the good fight, saving Seiretei, protecting what was theirs, instead of sitting indoors, talking about it. Not to mention he could be visiting Rukia right now.

"Abarai! Pay attention, will you?"

Renji focused on the figure at the front of the room, a strange-looking fellow with military-cut blonde hair and who _always wore sunglasses. _Renji always assumed that he had demon eyes or something of the like, because it was fairly dark in the room, yet he could still read off the piece of paper he was holding.

"Anyway," the man continued, "the injuries are as follows. 11th squad third seat and fifth seat are being treated for severe injuries."

Renji's ears pricked up, and clenched his fist. He knew those guys.

"The eleventh squad has also been reportedly . . . er. . . wiped out."

The announcer didn't seem especially concerned, but almost at once, murmurs broke out among the few Lieutenants present. Renji listened to their concerns half-heartedly, but didn't pay much attention. His mind was still on an escape plan. Some way to get out of here, to get out there and face the man who had caused it all, the man who . . . Rukia . . .

"In the most recent news," the blonde continued, "it has been reported that three ryoka have kidnaped a member of the 4th squad and are holding him hostage."

This created the most stir among the crowd, as they began spouting their own rumors of who had fallen, and who was still out there, and who was missing. Renji half-listened, watching as the blonde struggled to call everyone back to order.

No one was watching. Without a second glance, he stepped out of the room in search of an orange head of hair, well aware that he may not return.

* * *

"Oh, no! Oh, no!!"

Hinamori covered her face with both hands, eyes open with horror and tears starting to form in both of them. Kira could understand what she was going through; he felt exactly the same way when he found Renji only a few minutes ago, lying in a pool of his own blood, shoulder mangled, clothes torn, a victim of a horrible encounter with one of the ryoka. Very powerful ryoka.

"I know," Kira said softly. "He was like this when we found him . . ."

"What happened?" Hinamori stressed, kneeling almost automatically beside her friend, hands unsure whether or not it was wise to reach out and touch him. It wouldn't have mattered, really; he clearly couldn't feel it in his current state, it all came down to whether she wanted blood on her fingers. "_How_ did this--"

"We can only guess," Kira answered, biting his lip. Though he had told his third seat he would have joined in the battle if he had made it in time, he had to wonder if it would have really made a difference. From what he saw before him now, Gin had been absolutely right – these ryoka were more powerful than any of them could have anticipated. Even Renji, who had most likely gone looking for them, thinking he would have an easy victory, had misjudged. And if something like this could happen to one of the most determined and stubborn fighters he knew . . . what _would_ they have to do to keep Seiretei safe?

"Did you call Fourth Squad?" she asked, deciding to lay her hands on the mat beside him.

"Not yet," Kira replied. "I brought him straight here. I'll go now. Watch him, will you?"

"I don't think so," came a dark and looming voice from behind them. Kira recognized the droning brood at once, the same unfeeling one that gave Renji usual reason to complain.

Both Kira and Hinamori swerved around to see the long-haired Byakuya Kuchiki staring miserably at the lump of flesh and blood and red hair, his eyes filled with a deep loathing.

"Kuchiki Taichou!" Kira exclaimed, too surprised to say anything more polite.

"Throw him in prison," Byakuya muttered obviously.

"Prison?!" Hinamori repeated in shock. "You cant mean that! Abarai-kun . . . he needs medical attention. He faced those ryoka head-on, and . . ."

"Enough," Byakuya spat. "He was alone. He had no excuse to lose. What use to I have for a Lieutenant who can't even get rid of a few intruders, after all?"

"You can't mean that!" Hinamori continued, eyes even wider in the horror of his unfeeling unkindness. "How can you--"

"Hinamori!" Kira hissed, grabbing her shoulder. She should know better than to address a Captain like that, especially since his eyes were almost murderous. As much as he disagreed, it was up to Byakuya to do what he willed with his Lieutenant. He bowed deeply to the dark-haired captain. "I'm sorry," he said softly, hoping Hinamori would follow suit.

At first, she was rather hesitant, but, as she saw that Kuchiki Taichou was almost _waiting_ for her apology, she reluctantly complied. "I'm sorry," she muttered, giving a bow as well.

The two of them watched in silence as Byakuya disappeared through the open door, almost mysteriously vanishing as soon as he met the horizon.

"Tsk, there he goes again," came another mysterious voice, this one even more familiar. "Scarin' everyone like that. Loomin' around. Creeper, ain't he?"

This being about two seconds after Byakuya had vanished, both Hinamori and Kira jumped, even though Kira smiled to note who was in the room as soon as the initial scare had warn off.

"Gi – Ichimaru Taichou," he said calmly.

"Heya Kira, Hinamori-chan," Gin said cheerfully, then looked thoughtfully after the sixth-squad Captain. "Can't believe he ack-chally said them things," he said matter-of-factly. "Scary man. Or 'least he thinks he is." He turned back to the two Lieutenants, who were calm for the moment, but still both looked a little shaken. "Doncha worry. I'll get fourth squad."

"You will?" Hinamori asked, cracking a smile, though it wasn't a trusting one.

"Course," Gin continued. "I'll go now. Kira," he said firmly, "C'mon wit me."

"Okay," Kira said, noticing too late that he sounded way too eager. Well, with all the commotion going on, he had been fairly sure he wouldn't see his Captain again for a long time; this was, actually, a pleasant surprise. Without bidding his friend farewell, he followed his Captain out the door.

* * *

Hinamori watched the doorway long after Kira had gone out of sight, exasperated. She had indeed noticed the expression on her friend's face when his Captain had appeared; it had been a while since she had seen him smile like that. That wasn't what made her so apprehensive, though – actually, she thought it was _cute_. It was just that she felt helpless. And she _hated_ feeling helpless. Usually, there was something that could be done, but . . . this whole situation with the ryoka was making it impossible to do anything without making some kind of mistake.

And these Captains popping up out of nowhere . . . everyone was on edge enough as it was, but they were just making it worse. It was almost as though they were doing it on purpose . . .

"Well at least Abarai-kun's going to be taken care of," she sighed, and went to kneel down beside him.

"Don't do that," came a sullen voice from behind her. "You'll get blood on yourself."

This time, Hinamori actually jumped in the air, her hand on her sword as she swept around to find one of the three people in Seiretei shorter than herself. The white-haired Hitsugaya was looking as miserable as ever, staring past her at the figure laid out on the floor.

"Hitsugaya-kun!!" she cried, half in relief, half in annoyance.

"You shouldn't address me like that, I'm a Captain," he said stiffly.

She could never tell if he was kidding, but to her, he would always be Shiro-chan. He should be lucky to be called by his full last name.

"What is _with_ all the Captains today?" she exclaimed, thinking aloud. "Why don't they make sounds when they walk? Do they think it's funny, sneaking up on people?"

He didn't respond, his expression as . . . expressionless as ever. In the silence, she immediately realized something strange: they were alone.

"Where's . . . your Vice-Captain?" she asked meekly.

Histugaya sighed. "I'm here myself," he started, "because . . . I needed to tell you something."

"What?" Hinamori asked, her cheeks turning a healthy pink. "What -- what did you need to tell me?"

"It's a warning," he continued, eyebrows creased seriously. "Watch out for Squad Three."

It took a minute for her to register the words. "Squad Three?" she said obviously. "You mean . . . Kira-kun? What's . . . what's wrong with him?"

"I meant Ichimaru, actually," Histugaya noted. "But, now that you mention it . . . watch out for Kira as well."

"But . . . .why?" Hinamori started, but was cut off.

"Especially when they're around Captain Aizen."

"Around . . . Captain Aizen?"

Hinamori was immensely confused by this. "Why would Ichimaru Taichou be a danger to Aizen Taichou? I thought they were good friends."

"Well," Hitsugaya said, looking aside. There was a heaviness to his voice that she had never heard before. "Things aren't always what they seem."


End file.
